This is Sarah...
Sarah works for Pets Warehouse as a retail assistant and animal care attendant. Pets Warehouse is a large retail chain operating in numerous states around Australia. Sarah is responsible for providing customer service, processing transactions, maintaining stock displays, and caring for the store’s animals which they sell to the public. These animals include a variety of fish, birds, kittens, puppies, pocket pets, reptiles, and even spiders.
Is it fun working in a pet shop with all the adorable animals?
It can be quite fun, I get to interact with animals each day and I am allowed to take the cats and dogs out of their cages and have a five-minute cuddle with them, but there is still a lot of work that has to be done in-between and some of it involves handling the not so cute animals like the spider!
What are your main duties?
I arrive at 7.30 am each day, which is before opening hours. This is when the animals are fed and have their cages cleaned as they are usually quite messy from the overnight period, I also have to prepare the shop floor by putting out displays and turning on lights and equipment. There are quite a few policies and procedures regarding these tasks, when I first started, I had to refer to them quite a bit but now I know most of the processes. There are some strict laws regarding keeping animals in a retail environment and we need to ensure that we consider these laws when developing store policies.
Once the shop opens, I have to monitor all the customers in the store, some need assistance and others are just browsing. It is important to make sure nobody tries to steal anything or to pat the animals. I have to approach each customer and politely offer advice on our products, services, or animals.
When there are no customers in the store, I am expected to be cleaning, undertaking stock control tasks, or grooming the animals. There is always something that needs to be cleaned, animals are messy! We also receive a lot of deliveries which need unpacking and storing or displaying. Our animals also need to look their best so that they sell, the long-haired cats and dogs need regular brushing and sometimes we have to clip claws or clean their teeth.
At the end of the day, after closing, we have to feed the animals again, clean the enclosures, and secure their cages for the night. We also clean the store thoroughly including sanitising the floors, work surfaces, and equipment.
Do you work with many other people?
My store is quite large so there is always a couple of other people on duty who are also retail assistants and animal care attendants. We work well together and it's fun to chat with my colleagues whilst undertaking my duties. There are also a few supervisors, and one will always be rostered on shift with us. I don't need close supervision because I've been doing this job for a while, however, it's always reassuring to know that I have someone to refer to in a tricky situation or to answer any of my questions. The supervisors will also give us random instructions throughout the day, especially if we are busy or if there is a special event happening, we must follow up on these requests promptly.
I am required to provide a verbal report to my supervisor each day on things like animal welfare, sales, stock levels, and any unusual customer requests. When I am speaking with the supervisor, I need to use all the proper terminology for animal breeds, descriptions, and also the various products that we sell, the supervisors don't like to play guessing games with our informal terminology or nick names for the animals.
There are also other people with who we have to interact, such as delivery personnel and the local veterinarian clinic staff who work next door. There is also a grooming parlour a few shops away and they visit our store quite regularly. I am expected to liaise with them professionally as they often send us customer referrals, and this is good for business.
What is the worst part of your job?
We sell dead animals as food, for example, people who have pet snakes feed them dead mice and rats, and these are sold frozen and whole, which took me a while to get used to.
I also hate cleaning the spider's cage... normally I let one of my colleagues do that, he loves spiders which I think is weird.
Would you recommend working in the animal care industry?
It is a very rewarding job despite some of the hard work and sad incidents. It is also a great job for students because the hours can be flexible. I have two colleagues who are studying at university to become Veterinarians and they find this type of job to be a great orientation into the larger animal care industry.