Career Opportunity

Animal Care Attendant (3370) - Animal Care & Control , Office of the City Administrator (Eligible List ID # 150436)

Recruitment: REF44186Z

Published: May 08, 2025

Accepting applications until: May 30, 2025

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
• Application Deadline: Friday, May 30, 2025 (11:59 PM, PST)

The San Francisco Department of Animal Care & Control (SFACC) is a taxpayer-funded, open-admission animal shelter. Since 1989, SFACC has provided housing, care, and medical treatment to wild, exotic and domestic stray, lost, abandoned, sick, injured, and surrendered animals. SFACC’s doors are open to all animals in need regardless of species, medical, or behavioral condition. 

The shelter also enforces all state and local Animal Control and Welfare laws and is the first responder for animals in natural disasters and citizen emergencies. 

• SFACC shelters homeless, neglected, and abused animals and provides humane education and many other services to the community. 
• SFACC is the local agency that investigates animal cruelty, enforces animal welfare laws, rescues injured and orphaned wildlife and birds, and aids domestic animals in distress. 
• SFACC aims to adopt, re-home, or reunite domestic animals with their guardians and to release wildlife to their native habitat.

Role description

Under direct supervision, the Animal Care Attendant maintains safe and sanitary facilities for shelter animals and the public, provides humane handling and care for shelter animals.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties:

1. Cleans and disinfects kennels, enclosures, habitats, equipment, runs and common areas of the facility with appropriate cleaning agents in order to maintain a healthy, clean, safe and sanitary environment for animals and the public.
2. Humanely handles, processes, and kennels all animals, wild or domestic animals which may be ill, injured, quarantined, aggressive or difficult to control
3. Provides food, water and proper care for all animals; inventories food stores and restocks as needed.
4. Under the direct and indirect supervision of the Veterinarian, performs regular animal health checks, administers medication, vaccinations and microchips, and provides treatment to all animals and documents this activity in animals’ medical records.
5. Monitors all animals, including those that may be isolated or quarantined, for signs of illness or unusual behavior; makes notations and reports problems regarding health and behavior of animals to the Supervisor and/or veterinary staff.
6. Performs the euthanasia of animals; administers Schedule 2 barbiturates and/or narcotics; stores remains and decapitates certain animals for rabies laboratory testing; disposes of euthanized animals; and prepares and processes related documentation.
7. Maintains accurate and legible case files and records for each animal in the shelter; uses a computer to input, update and access information regarding shelter animals and to produce written documents.
8. Provides information and assists members of the public, present educational animal programs information about animals’ needs, temperament, behavior and care. 
9. Assists colleagues in other divisions and volunteers with animal handling, impounding, in-field, and during special events as assigned. May assist management, the veterinary medical staff and other individuals in animal husbandry, surgery or related procedures as required by law and departmental policy.
10. Coordinates volunteers for assistance related to the department's programs. When assigned, oversees and trains volunteers in animal programs.
11. Prepares animals, specimens, supplies and equipment for transport to pet adoption events, satellite adoption centers, veterinary clinics, laboratories, wildlife centers and humane societies for treatment, testing and relocation as necessary.
12. Evaluates, plans, researches, develops and presents/builds future programs and exhibits; participates in the planning and implementation of special events.
13. Identifies safety hazards to public, staff and animals.
14. Performs related duties as assigned.

Working Conditions:

• Prolonged exposure to high noise levels and unpleasant odors in the kennels.
• Work with people form diverse backgrounds, including individuals who may be angry or hostile.
• Clean up animal excrement and sanitize kennels and /or cages.
• A very busy office and working environment.
• Frequently handling and being exposed to dogs with unknown temperament and behavior.
• Limited exposure to fumes or airborne particles and toxic chemicals.
• Having to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Being prepared to work a flexible schedule, which includes weekends and evenings.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

Experience:

1. Six (6) months verifiable hands-on work or volunteer experience in the care, feeding and/or handling of animals in a facility that cares for and/or houses animals (e.g. animal care/control agency, humane society, veterinary hospital, boarding or pet day care facility, or pet store), working principally with common domestic animals or within wildlife rehabilitation; OR

2. Thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units of coursework in an animal husbandry, veterinary science or a related program at an accredited college or university; OR

3. One (1) year verifiable experience in caring for animals in a park, zoo, museum or university setting.

License and Certification:

Some positions may require possession and maintenance of, or the ability to obtain and maintain, a valid California Class C Driver's License.

Special requirement: When assigned to Animal Care and Control, must complete euthanasia training within twelve (12) months of appointment and maintain permit once received.

Note(s):

• One-year full-time employment is considered equivalent to 2000 hours (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.
• Applicants must meet minimum qualification requirements by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in customer service including in-person interactions with customers and/or the general public.
• Knowledge of animal health and behavior issues, particularly those common in a shelter environment.
• Articulate, organized and be able to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to be patient and tactful when interacting with challenging, sensitive or emotional people and issues.
• Strong active listening and communication skills.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Chameleon a plus.

Verification:

Please make sure it is clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications.

Note: Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores. Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

What else should I know?

Selection Procedure/Examination Requirements
After application submission, candidates must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight 100%):
Candidates deemed to meet the minimum qualifications will participate in a supplemental questionnaire evaluation designed to measure their relative knowledge, skills and abilities in job-related areas, which may include, but not be limited to knowledge of physical and behavioral characteristics of different species and breeds of animals; symptoms of common animal diseases which may necessitate medical attention; occupational hazards and safety precautions for working with confined animals; Skills in safe, effective handling and restraint methods for a variety of animals, including animals which may be ill, injured, quarantined, aggressive or difficult to control and wild animals such as snakes, skunks, pigeons and raccoons; Ability to learn safe and effective procedures for industrial cleaning and sanitation of kennels and other areas; learn, assist in, gain certification in, and perform euthanasia procedures in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations and best practices; learn techniques of administering vaccinations by injection, intranasal; effectively prioritize and complete routine assignments with minimal oversight and within established timeframes; Human Relations Ability to deal courteously and effectively with co-workers, staff and members of the general public from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, including individuals who may be angry, hostile or distraught; maintain effective, cooperative and professional working relationships; Oral Communication Ability to speak clearly and effectively in order to communicate work-related information; listen and elicit information; to read and understand written instructions, procedures, and memos; Written Communication Ability to accurately document information in case records and files; learn the use of the department's computer to access, input and retrieve work-related information; bend, stoop, stretch, and crawl in the performance of assigned duties; lift and carry objects and equipment weighing up to 50 pounds. A passing score must be achieved on the supplemental questionnaire in order to be ranked on the eligible list.

Eligible List/Score Report:
A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 6 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see: https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2022-23.pdf.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst at Gina.Lapez@sfgov.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.