Pet Care Boom Has Employers Begging

Careers Opening Up For Nurses, as Well as Groomers and Massagers

Adrianne Williams spent three years as a dog trainer working for a chain pet store in North Carolina. She liked the connections with dogs and their families but wanted more career possibilities.

So when a friend offered to help her start out as a veterinary technician, she eagerly switched and ended up at the Banfield veterinary hospital in Bethesda.

"I love it -- every day I'm learning about pets," said Williams, 23, a who owns two mixed-breed dogs, Charlie and Taffy.

She started at Banfield as a front desk/client services coordinator and quickly became what they call a pet nurse. Now she's director of pet nursing, and she spends her days helping veterinarians in surgery or rounds and showing new techs dog triage and how to draw blood or collect stool samples.

Williams is in a booming field -- pet care, which is creating thousands of jobs inside and outside veterinary practices.

Some, like entrepreneur Tomoko Kawasumi, run their pet massage businesses from their homes or storefronts. Others prefer to join growing businesses of doggy day care or pet wash and grooming. Some jobs, such as dog walker, are part-time (and in great demand around Washington) while others offer full-time salaries with benefits and advancement possibilities.

Veterinary technicians, for example, earn on average $24,000 annually with a two-year degree and certification, according to the government's Occupational Outlook Handbook, and some can bring in considerably more. The demand for new vet techs is expected to be much stronger than for all occupations in coming years.

Banfield, which operates 590 veterinary hospitals and clinics nationally, expects to hire more than 500 pet nurses in 2007 as it opens new locations. It already employs 3,300 pet nurses and directors of pet nursing.

There are a host of other careers, some new and some evolving, as care for Fido and Cupcake gets more sophisticated and expensive. Americans spend $36 billion a year on pet supplies and services, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association.

While many careers require college degrees and state licensing or certification, others can be learned on the job or through a few weeks' training at company headquarters.

Among the latter are pet massage therapists, pet physical therapy and rehab specialists and a growing number of holistic health practitioners.

After six years as an international business consultant, Kawasumi started her PAWsitive Touch Canine Massage in 2003. Later, she opened a bakery that makes organic dog biscuits and special-occasion meals. She also trains dogs, especially hyperactive ones.