Career Opportunity

Animal Care Attendant - SF Animal Care & Control – Office of the City Administrator (3370) – (131960)

Recruitment: RTF0131957-01116174

Published: February 28, 2023

Accepting applications until: March 01, 2023

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 are listed below:

• Application Opening: February 15, 2023
• Application Deadline: March 1, 2023
• Compensation Range: $61,152-$78,026 (annually)
• Recruitment ID: #131960

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 provide 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 all shelter animals and performs related duties.

Examples of Important and Essential Duties:

1. Cleans and disinfects kennels, wards, cages, equipment, runs and common areas of the facility with appropriate cleaning agents in order to maintain a healthy, clean, safe and sanitary facility for shelter animals and the public.
2. Humanely handles and kennels all animals and identifies shelter animals with appropriate tags or bands before kenneling, including animals which may be ill, injured, quarantined, aggressive or difficult to control and wildlife such as snakes, skunks, pigeons and raccoons. 
3. Provides food, water and proper care for all shelter animals.
4. Under the direct and indirect supervision of the Shelter Veterinarian, administers medication, vaccinations and microchips, conducts feline immunodeficiency virus/feline leukemia virus (FIV/FELV) testing through venipuncture and provides treatment to all shelter 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 Animal Care Supervisor and/or veterinary medical services staff.
6. Performs the euthanasia of animals by intravenous injection with controlled substances; disposes of the euthanized animal; when necessary, decapitates animals for rabies laboratory testing, stores remains and prepares and processes related documentation; administers Schedule 2 barbiturates and/or narcotics.
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, including individuals who may be angry, hostile or distraught, in search of lost or adoptable pets; assists potential adopters with 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. Transports animals, specimens, supplies and equipment to pet adoption events, satellite adoption centers, veterinary clinics, laboratories, wildlife centers and humane societies for treatment, testing and relocation as necessary.
11. Performs related duties as assigned.

Working conditions: Performance of physical duties, including bend, stoop, stretch, crawl, lift and carry objects and equipment weighing up to 50 pounds, stand and walk for extended periods of time; use of proper protective equipment (PPE), including gloves, gowns, head covers, shoe covers, face masks; exposure to strong and/or unpleasant odors, including those from animal excrement, cleaning agents and chemical compounds; frequent exposure to noise, possible exposure to zoonotic disease; may require exposure to animal habitats with humid temperatures up to 80 degrees.  Position requires shifts on a rotating basis as well as weekend and holiday work, extended hours and/or overtime work; changes in work schedule may occur with limited advance notice.

How to qualify

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

1. Six (6) months verifiable hands-on professional 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 dogs and cats; OR

2. 30 semester or 45 quarter units of coursework in an animal husbandry, veterinary science or a related program at an accredited college or university. 

3] Possession and maintenance of, or the ability to obtain and maintain, a valid California Class C Driver's License. 

Special requirement: Must complete euthanasia training within six (6) months of appointment.

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.
• A valid California drivers license must be obtained prior to appointment and maintained throughout employment. 

Desirable Qualifications:
The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring. 

• Experience in customer service including in-person interactions with customers and/or the general public. 

Verification:
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: 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.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

SELECTION PROCEDURE/EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ):
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight 100%):
Candidates deemed to meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in a supplemental questionnaire 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 animal species and breeds, common animal disease symptoms, occupational hazards and safety precautions for working with confined animals; skills in: safe, effective handling and restraint methods for a variety of animals, including 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, techniques of administering injection and intranasal vaccinations, assist and gain certification in euthanasia procedures, regulations and best practices, prioritize and complete routine assignments, maintain professional working relationships, interact courteously and effectively with the public and others, document information in case records and files, access a computer to input and retrieve information; written and oral communication abilities. Failure to complete the supplemental questionnaire may result in disqualification. A passing score must be achieved on the supplemental questionnaire in order to be ranked on the eligible list.

What else should I know?

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-2021-22.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

HOW TO APPLY:
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov and begin the application process.

• Select the "Apply Now" button or “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this announcement 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).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email 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.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.