What career can i pursue if i want to work with animals besides being a vet?

Hi Jennifer,
That is great that you want to work with our great animals. I think that you will need some kind of schooling to know how animals live on a daily basis how to handle the animals properly. There are a few good choices. For one you can start an animal rescue. However, with an animal rescue you can apply for a Gov. Grant a 501C3 for a tax write off for a sanctuary for animals. However, you will need a place for the animals to be at. I would guess some land or property somewhere. You can get land pretty cheap if you google land in your areas. Most of the time people will buy inexpensive land to open a sanctuary on for the animals. You will need permits and a structure to live in out there and this can be expensive. However with a 501c3 you can get donations also from individuals as a fund raiser for the animals. You however will be able to support yourself and with the donations hopefully you will have enough to pay yourself as a worker. You must declare this on your tax return if you work full time with the animals. If there are grants available to care for animals then you can likely get a bit of monies from the government for the care of the animals. This will also include you writing a proposal for funding from the government. There is a website called Gov.Grants.org makes sure it’s the correct site there are many fallacy cites on the web for GoV. Grants. They will have a list of available funding in different areas if you qualify for the grant at that point is when you will write a proposal. You will need help with this and can get help from a group called S.C.O.R.E and the Small Business Admin. A good idea also is to start a business like maybe a pet shop with domestic animals and reptiles this may be easier for you for a while for a starting point. A pet shop would be a great job too. If I were you I would go to work at Pets mart or a pet shop or Petco to see if that’s what you want to do and go from there. There are many places you can start at these are just to name a few.
If you decide on the 501c3 you will need to get a license to care for the animals you will need to show that you have the means to care for the animals too. You will need a safe haven or a place for them to live life to the fullest and not in kennels and cages this is not good for most animals because they need walking and exercise. This is a huge job and not just something that will be easy no matter what type of animals you care for. Zoology is one program you can take for a while at a college to care for animals that are in habitats, and in captivity. There are many programs to take for animals and with little or without any school you will not go very far in life unless you start your own business and make money that way. However animals are not profitable they are more of an expense, and then they are an asset. If your heart is with nature go to college for two years and become a forest ranger and work in parks with wild life. There are many jobs for wildlife refuges, caretakers, and many wildlife areas require you have some knowledge of animals or how animals behave so you will know what to do. I suggest at least two years of vet assistant or forest ranger if you like wildlife, or you can take oceanography, wildlife and nature courses, such as. http://www.nwf.org/wildlife-university.ashx or you can go to http://training.fws.gov/
The Department of fish and game has many openings for individuals however I do know you must have some sort of college degree even for fish and game. Another idea is to work in parks and recreation that does not take too much schooling and you could possibly work with school age kids that come into the park for camp and show them the animals. You can do that with a certificate. There are certificate classes available to you also that are short in duration and you will have something and some sort of experience to work in summer camps or National parks and recreation. If you want domestic animals like just cats and dogs rabbits, and small critters than you will not need much schooling for that. However, I will say to you college is one way out of poverty. There are not many other ways out, I would think about going to college and take what you like and if you like animals you will enjoy the college classes. You do have grants and loans available to you for college if that is an issue for you. I am sure someone can help you with a government loan and grants if you put your efforts into going for at least an AA degree. That would help you get a great job in a place where then you will have more knowledge and know what to do. I adore animals too I think you have chosen a great field to go into however everything takes some kind of schooling unless you apply at your local animal shelter or humane society. That’s a lot of difficult work to do daily. Think about it and if you still do not want to go to a college we can look at other avenues for you to do something different. There is something for everyone so hang in there and you will do just fine. Good luck in your inquires about what you think you should do for a career with animals and or nature I do want to say thank you so much for the question very interesting subject.

Here are some helpful resources: http://www.insidejobs.com/blog/top-jobs-for-animal-lovers

http://www.uvisor.com/55-great-careers-working-animals/

https://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/animal-careers