animal care specialist

veterinary assistant

veterinarian

care specialist

veterinary technician

Houston SPCA

This organization is a total smoke screen. It's all about image and donors, with little to no genuine care from the "higher ups". 

The only positive thing that comes from working here is being able to provide each animal comfort and love during a scary time, but knowing you are only one of VERY few who wants each animal to feel comfortable, loved, and seen. 

I was thrilled to know I was hired in this organization until I saw this shelter for what it truly is. Management cares more about adoption numbers and how "clean" the environment is whenever their donors come to visit. Animal care is neglected and walked on, and there is no compassion or emotional relief for their employees. 

There truly aren't any "red flags" when it comes to adoptions. One of the hardest parts about working there is completing an adoption for someone you know should NOT be allowed to adopt, but management waves it off so their adoption numbers look pretty. 

Most pitbulls are euthanized simply for being a pitbull. Not due to a medical reason, aggression, etc... Only for the reason of their breed. However, they will glady adopt out Rottweilers and German Shepards, who can also be classified as an "aggressive breed" via the internet. This goes against everything they claim to stand for, and they sweep this policy under the rug. Any true animal advocate knows that it is not the breed, but the background history that creates behavioral issues such as aggression. 

Lastly, they have no issue euthanizing animals for space. There have been so many, TOO many, lives taken due to lack of care or effort to find resources. Many animals are euthanized for easily treatable illnesses, such as Upper Respiratory Infection, due to lack of space. Also, every immature animal under 8 weeks is euthanized just for being small and incapable of being independent. Instead of outreaching as much as possible to their fosters or to social media, they will euthanize without trying. 

Many of these situations/policies are created by management, but too many employees bat an eye to these horrific events and become desensitized. Ironically, this place should be investigated for animal cruelty.

This place will suck all the happy and joy of working with animals out of you. You turn Into a robot.. your coworkers are good people (majority) but management... management needs some work in showing there staff compassion and appreciation. It’s no coincidence that people just quit there and in a bulk. Ive never ever had a problem with anyone personally but I have seen some things, scandalous and slap to the face things that management will do to there employees. I’ve worked here for a while (4+ years) and this used to be a place where people can GROW, but now it’s like your stuck in the same spot and you can’t even talk to management about it (or anything problematic) because “if you don’t like it you can leave..” & they don’t just do this to the “lazy or bad workers” they will turn on the most loyal employee they have.. IVE SEEN IT multiple times and most of them left the shelter and are achieving everything they wanted to. I mean I’m just saying you cannot trust this place long term. You just can’t, if you want to work here just gather as much experience you can, keep your head down, learn and then take it somewhere else. This place is full of broken promises no matter what department you're in and they’re definitely the type of work place that doesn’t respect the fact that you have a personal life. To them work is life and everyone under them is disposable. 

awful and toxic work environment with high school-like drama. upper management is out of touch and ceo comes across as nearly villainous at times. working here is like consistently walking on eggshells. if you mess up once you will not be given constructive criticism, you will instead be talked down to and belittled. lower management and staff are wonderful people however. upper management is just ridiculously awful and does not care whatsoever about their employees in any way that matters. no matter what criticism they face they will not change their ways and as a result many of their programs and numbers remain stagnant due to constant turnover- progress cannot truly be made when your staff is ALWAYS in training. things are expected to be 150% perfect at all times and if even one thing is out of place you WILL hear about it. you can be the perfect employee here by all means and still not get a single thank you. would not recommend working here for a long term, only short period to get experience. even if you are extremely passionate about animal welfare they will find a way to ruin it for you and turn your love and drive into bitterness and constant anxiety, it's genuinely sad. 

During my employment at the company, they lacked emphasis on work-life balance in our team and the micromanagement was getting in the way of our productivity and morale. PTO requests were often denied due to the always ongoing staffing challenges. Even with advanced notice, such as multiple weeks, requests were not approved. Employees were forced to arrange their own coverage, or they would be required to work, regardless of prior financial investment already made. The "pep-talk" that we received from the Chief veterinarian if we felt unhappy and unsatisfied with the job, was to just leave. She said there was no point to bring our negativity to the environment, when in actuality the environment itself was already negative and toxic.  I had observed instances where favoritism influenced decision-making, particularly when it aligned with the company’s interests. Overall, I appreciate the experience and skills I gained while working here, but it needs to be acknowledged that my treatment during my time at the company was difficult. The company places a greater emphasis on metrics and performance rather than individual employee well-being. This led to a feeling of being viewed more as a number than as a valued team member.

Work was always great working with the animals but, if you worked in admissions and call center you'll see how angry people can get. I hated admissions so much  people just didn't understand that if you didn't have an appointment to "drop off A dog" you couldn't leave it there. And yes! even if it still is a shelter It is considered abandonment my every day thought was if your not going to do the right thing and say well I'm just going to leave it in the street don't pick it up or call YOUR local animal control to pick it up that's why they are funded by the government HOUSTON SPCA is nonprofit so they go based by donations so don't get angry at the workers because they say no trust me it is not because we don't want to but because we are limited to the space we have since we do not euthanize for time or space so please at least call before you come and get angry at the staff. And that is why I hated that part of the job I'm a very kind person that just didn't want to go bitter by all the rude people, retail is no were near as bad as the customers their.

This was my first veterinary job and got me in the door for future tech positions. It did feel good to do honest rewarding work but at the end of the day, it was the most physically and emotionally draining job I've ever had for some of the lowest pay. Do NOT take this job because you want to play with puppies. You will be working more than 8 hours most days doing hard labor, dealing with aggressive, severely injured, abused and sick animals. You will be handling dead bodies. When I was there, there was little respect for the work the handlers put in every day even though management liked to put on a show of listening to you. The vet staff is often overwhelmed with too many animals and structural problems cause the animals to not be taken care of properly. This job was a valuable experience but definitely would never go back.  Expect to always be overworked and understaffed. 

At the time of application, the Houston SPCA seemed like quite the dream job to work at. Their mission was respectable but after actually working there, and being involved with them for an extensive period of time, the rose-tinted lenses cracked. While they do strongly support their mission, the things you go through behind the scenes tends to contrast those ideals harshly. On top of that, the pay rate - at least for the department I worked in - wasn't enough for the workload given, especially starting out. They had employees who had been their for years prior to me who never saw pay raises and it wasn't until 2019/2020 when they made a substantial change on their base hourly pay. The management is also toxic and began to go downhill as time went on, talking down about each other as well as their subordinates and being unfair when their subordinates were facing problematic life circumstances.

Overall, even if you love animals and want to do good, there are better places to work at than the Houston SPCA.

Long hours, in away good if you need the extra money, manager doesn’t have a hack if you are ill or not even if you let them know in advance. You might have a month appointment coming and even if you request the day off in advance he gets upset about it. The tech there are some very few helpful and always you have to watch what you say because they hear and tell and add extra to the salsa very messing. And when you ask and ask about something that you need help and unaware how things are done there they help at the moment and once you turn your back all the do is Criticize you. There is a few old tech that talk about everyone there and always think they are above license veterinarians and talk about them behind back, They really don’t care about anybody just at the moment they get stuff done they think about just make your best money For the shelter and to them you are just an employee more they come and go often.

The reviews are so incredibly correct. Upper management treats you terribly and will fire you for any small thing, blinding you in the meanwhile and labeling you under things you are not under the guise of holding pride for the employees and the facility. Working on weekdays is like walking on eggshells due to this. The work itself is fulfilling until you have to lie to the public about two particular subjects because upper management says so. Don't work here unless you're okay with being spoken down to and treated like an ant. Especially don't work here if you have an authority issue. How did those people end up in a company that stands for compassion and care when they don't have that for their employees and animals new and old? Ridiculous. 

- A typical Day at work for me involves feeding animals, cleaning kennels, washing floors, dishes and laundry 
- So far I've learned about a few different illnesses that can affect dogs (And that sometimes, people are just terrible)
- Management is easy to talk to and understanding. Definitely ask any questions you have.
- Everyone here is friendly enough and helps whenever they can if you ask. 
- Hardest part of the job would definitely be the physical labor. It's probably a solid 3-4 hours of cleaning. Definitely stretch in the mornings before work.
- Most enjoyable part of the job is definitely meeting the different animals and watching them grow more comfortable and healthy before they are sent to Adoptions.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Animal care specialist 3 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Veterinary assistant 3 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Veterinarian 2 salaries reported	$140,000 per year
Care specialist 2 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Veterinary technician 1 salary reported	$21.50 per hour

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