kennel assistant

veterinary assistant

customer service representative

veterinary technician

animal care associate

North Shore Animal League America

I wish to save other people the trouble of applying here, if they were thinking about it in the future.

Working here started out great. I loved working with the animals and my co-workers were great to be around. Of course there were some bad eggs, but that's everywhere. But it appeared very quickly that the managers are only nice to you until you get comfortable there and then show their true colors. The managers act less like managers, and more like high school bullies in the locker room. They talk behind your back, and even if you think they like you, they still have an opinion about you that's not always the best. If you need something from them, you can probably always find them hiding away in the office, attempting to help as little as possible. In other words, you aren't really supported here, unless it's from a team leader, or peer leader, some of the time at least. You can never really trust anyone fully here. It was very hard to stand up for yourself. You kind of just had to let them yell at you, and then go back to your job.

My main words of advice if anyone chooses to work here. Even if you think you're doing something right, you probably aren't. Every manager has their own way of doing things and even if one person told you to do something one way, someone else will turn around and tell you to fix it a completely different way. You will learn quick that the managers even though they are all on the same level with each other, each act like they are running their own company half the time, and everything is very inconsistent all the time. So just do things the way you were trained to do, keep your head low, and do your job. The dogs and cats, and helping them find homes, can be worth it for dealing with the awful management. It's just up to you how much you wanna put up with. And the animals really are the best part of the job.

Typical day depends on which shift you start. Opening consists of feeding, cleaning after animals to get them ready for the day. It’s usually just you and one other person to complete everything before appointments or walk ins start coming in. Then it’s usually just trying to keep your head down from the drama of working there and trying to teach new hires while also dealing with unpleasant adopters (usually unpleasant bc we were always understaffed and sprinting to try to get every task done). While doing all this management and upper management breathe down your neck to get everything completed while also trying to figure out how to mask the entire public of certain events and issues happening at the shelter. Even when we are full of animals, rescues still come in until everything is packed which is awful. Kittens and puppies get pushed out while older babies face uncertainty of being adopted there. A lot of animals that get sick are overlooked by accident because there’s too many to keep track of. The environment of the work place is very hush hush, untrustworthy and overall stressful. At times you feel as though you aren’t doing enough and are being ignored and other times it’s like all eyes are on you and you are one mistake away from punishment. Btw you are ALWAYS one mistake away from punishment and it will only happen when management feels like it’s the right time for them. If it weren’t for the animals, I probably would have quit earlier. No sense in working a job that never actually values you as a person or cares about you enough to let you grow in the work place. No sense in being a sitting duck until they are done with you either. They burn you out then throw you out.

I  have worked here for a couple of years and I will say the only thing that I love there are the dogs. Other than that this place isn’t somewhere I’d recommend someone to work. It’s mentally and physically draining. The managers don’t do anything and leave everything to the associates. They nitpick anything and anyone and they have power trips. You can’t go to them for anything first because you never find them they are always missing and they don’t make you feel comfortable. to be around them. They are fake they will make it seem like they like you and then go talk to other managers or associates they do like about you. They are NOT professional they all act like literal children!!!!!!  This place can do so much better if management steps up and does what they are supposed to do and acts professionally. They are all so negative. They expect a lot from the associates and if you make a small mistake they make sure you know and make you feel like you are not supposed to make any type of mistake. They always give you a yearly review and tell you what you need to improve on yet they aren’t even around to see how you work. The higher ups aren’t great either they believe that they are so much better than you they will barely even say a word to you or barley even look at you doubt they even know your name. Working with the other associates isn’t that easy either it’s. It all cliques and gossip. All you can do is keep low do your job and don’t even try to stick up for yourself unfortunately it won’t get you anywhere the managers always have to think they are right. Just focus on dogs they need it they are amazing. 

I worked as an associate at this place at the beginning it will seen like a cool place to work but after 2 weeks go by you will see how bad it is. managers are no where to be found.you have to be careful about everything you do or say cause if voice your opinion about something that's wrong in the company they will fire you not right away but they will find any  reason to fire you even if that means coming up with a new rule.if you are a good worker that never does anything wrong it doesn't matter they will come up with a new rule that never existed just to fire you seen it happen to multiple co workers. Every department is severely under staff so you are always doing the job of at least 3 people its so bad you will end up doing a hectic schedule you could be closing one day then opening the very next day. Depending on which department you are in you could end up leaving at 11 or close to 12 and coming in at 6 in the morning meaning you will get zero sleep you will always feel tired even on days off you dont wanna do anything besides rest and when someone does get hired and you think maybe you won't work as much dont count on it either they will quit from putting up with the ridiculousness or get fired so its always understaff management knows this but they don't care as a kennel associate you are the lowest of the lowest volunteers are more important than you you arent even part of the email system you won't know anything thats going on around unless a volunteers or a vet assistant tells you the pay is really bad benefits are good at least.

This is a horrible place to work. I didn't get paid for a MONTH when I first started. A solid MONTH of NO PAY because of a payroll mixup, and I was brushed off and treated like a nuisance for asking my manager when I can expect to be paid! I have been in animal welfare for over 10 years but was treated like an idiot by management, and during my 90 day review was given an ultimatum of "work more efficiently or there will be a separation of employment in 30 days." They gave me a sheet with the date of my possible termination on it, when I may or may not be fired if I didn't work faster! 

Really what that means is blaze through your job like a robot so you have enough time to do the dozens of extra tasks they throw on you, which ends up being the work of 2 or often 3 people, but they'll guilt you and make you feel terrible if you don't get everything done that management demands (while they sit comfy in their office, mind you).

I was also hired for part time even though I applied for full time, and my job title was an Animal Care Associate (really a glorified kennel assistant) even though I applied for a medical position. They're always short staffed because they can't keep anything more than a skeleton crew to save their life so you'll always be asked to do more than you can handle, the pay is pitiful, benefits are actually pretty decent if you can take working for North Shore. 

It's too bad because I loved and adored my co-workers and the animals, but management makes it impossible to stick around. Please listen to the reviews and don't work here, it's not worth it.

I worked there for over a year and learned so much important information about animal care and what to do and what not to do. 
Management there has almost little to no participation in everyday tasks besides their own and would often push the work onto the lower managers. The managers there hang out during closing hours and provide no assistance and then proceed to complain about how long it may be taken or talk badly about associates. Very immature environment between employees and there are always favorites and obvious disliked employees among the managers as well and it’s almost always made well-known. Also don’t take the time to get to know the animals and then proceed to believe they know what’s best for that specific animal.
A lot of the employees are also not trained correctly and end up making the job harder on seasoned employees. Have met every person that worked in the shelter and most never knew what they were doing or just were negligent in the care of the animals. 
So much more to just this but the most important, 


What is the best part of working at the company?
You do feel like you're doing something positive in the world and making a different for animals.  Benefits are decent (including free healthcare for pets.) 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Non-profit means limited wages. Weak HR department.  Upper management completely disconnected from the day-to-day staff; stay in their own little bubble.  Toxic management. Minimal room for advancement if any.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It should be much more positive given what the organization does but morale is constantly low and turnover high.  Poor upper and middle management; little consequence for poor performance and no appreciation for good workers. Cliques. Every department is an island of its own.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depends on the department.  Goal is always the same: adopt animals into homes, keep animals healthy, raise money to continue efforts.  Rinse and repeat.

I was a veterinary assistant here for eight months. I worked in surgery with my "team". This is a competitive environment but there was no need to treat an experienced assistant like an outsider. We were short technicians and I stepped up and help with recovering animals for anesthesia and extubation. I never got a thank you from my supervisor. I was one of the best assistants there and still I was micro managed. The culture here is selfish and childish. The hardest part of my job was dealing with under staffing and still being expected to make up for the lack of staffing. I use to come home from work exhausted and emotionally drained. The reason why I left was because they don't give you a fair raise. Not even close to a dollar and they wanted me to wait till January of next year. So they do not give yearly raises or sometimes they don't give raises at all. The best part of my job was learning more about surgery and taking care of the animals.

the work was easy for me and easy to get to know the dogs with behavioral issues if you have the experience. management was terrible to many rules i like to wear hats when im cleaning kennels and walking dogs but that wasn't allowed.during my interview i was told most of my days would be the 7-3 shift which i needed but there allowed to change your schedule without notice which in my opinion is not right and gave me all 12-8 shifts which i clearly stated would be an issue for most days but they didn't care.took forever for uniforms. they treat you so nice during the hiring process management and HR but after your hired everything is a hassle for them. i would not recommend working here.. they hired me with a pet behavior title but paid me the kennel associate wage gave me kennel associate uniforms and i had really good experience with dogs and training and was able to take out the dogs with stranger issues fairly quickly.some of the employees there are really stuck up and not good to work with including the managers.

The management is absolutely horrible. Maybe 2-3 managers that will actually treat you like a person. This is a very stressful and physically demanding job at times and yet the management will still look at you and talk to you like you’re nothing. Sometimes they will accuse you of doing your job wrong even though they never really see you work. Right from the start, they will never trust you. They don’t train you well and instead have you shadow random coworkers. All of the coworkers also hate management so you can kind of bond over that. If you’re understaffed, don’t expect management to work any harder to help. They will instead make everyone under them work harder without any acknowledgment for their work. The best part about this job is the animals. It is a shame that the work environment can’t be better for the people helping the animals because nobody higher up cares. They only care about their funding from rich people and celebrities, not the people keeping them in business. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Kennel assistant 3 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Veterinary assistant 5 salaries reported	$17.70 per hour
Customer service representative 6 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Veterinary technician 3 salaries reported	$27.83 per hour
Animal care associate 3 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour

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