A wide range of job opportunities exist in animal care, including roles such as veterinarians, veterinary technicians, groomers, pet sitters, and farm workers. In Westchester, multiple high school and college programs are available to help students prepare for careers in this field.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the next decade will see 79,900 job openings for animal care and service workers. This sector is projected to grow at a faster rate than other occupations.
BOCES Programs
High school students interested in animal care can explore programs at PNW BOCES and SWBOCES. For those interested in veterinary science, PNW BOCES offers a specialized course.
“The industry would like our students to have compassion towards people and animals,” says Stephen Lowery, the director of career and technical education at PNW BOCES. “Students have to be attentive and have a nurturing attitude. They also have to be collaborative and work together to solve problems.”
At PNW BOCES, the program has a class dog that visits each day. The school partners with Muscoot Farm and Tilly Foster Farm so that students can learn and watch animal care firsthand. Guest speakers such as doctors and staff at the Guardian Animal Hospital also come into the classroom to give students knowledge from the field.
“During the 2025-2026 school year, we will offer a New Visions Veterinary Science program that will be an honors-level program with college credits attached,” says Lowery. “This new program will give students more hands-on training, instruction, and internship opportunities.”
Students attending SWBOCES can enroll in the animal science course, gaining up to two years of hands-on experience in animal training, grooming, emergency medical care, health monitoring, veterinary assisting, and general animal care. Students work in teams and are managed by their peers in a work-like environment, explains Michael D’Abruzzo, SWBOCES animal science teacher.
“This extensive experience boosts their confidence and is difficult to obtain even at the college level, giving them an early advantage regardless of their career direction,” says D’Abruzzo. “Additionally, students work together in teams and are managed by their peers in a work-like environment. These experiences prepare them for real-world scenarios they will encounter in animal care careers.”
In D’Abruzzo’s class, students care for several animals, including dogs, birds, small mammals, reptiles, and exotic pets like sugar gliders. Each student also gets their own rat to train, which helps them gain experience and skills that are transferable to other animals.
“The class values the individuality of each student,” says D’Abruzzo. “While students are required to learn a basic understanding of all the subjects, individual learning time allows them to dive deeper into the branches they are most interested in.”
College Programs
After students finish the animal science course, D’Abruzzo says they are often ready to jump right into careers. Many can finish the program and become confident groomers, trainers, sitters, and more. For those who want to continue their education in animal care, both SUNY WCC and Mercy University offer veterinary technician programs. Mercy also offers an animal sciences program.
“A veterinary technician is essentially a superhero,” says Megan Moore, the department chair of the Veterinary Technology Program at WCC. “They are a nurse, phlebotomist, anesthetist, surgical assistant, radiology technician, dental hygienist, laboratory technician, therapist, counselor, and more.”
The students in the WCC program get an array of hands-on experiences, says Moore. Students are introduced to faculty-owned pets and a vast assortment of mannequins and realistic models, learning anatomy, restraint, and venipuncture techniques. At the same time, they receive mentorship through collaboration with Paws Crossed Animal Rescue, gaining experience with both shelter dogs and cats.
The students in this program also get clinical experience. They are required to have an internship at one of the school’s affiliated sites. Additionally, the students have classes and labs that look to replicate experiences in the field.
“In our farm animal nursing course, we have relationships with numerous farms where students will gain hands-on experience with horses, donkeys, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens,” says Moore.
At Mercy University, students in the veterinary technology program get hands-on experience within the first year. Students work with animals in the anatomy lab and animal handling lab. A unique feature of the Mercy program is its spay and neuter clinic and more than 720 hours of clinical experience in both general medicine and specialty practices that the students complete toward the end of their degree.
“We are very proud of a recent addition to the program which is an amazingly life-like Syndaver dog with a circulatory and respiratory system,” says Amanda Colon, the assistant professor of vet tech at Mercy. “The students practice intubation, abdominal organ anatomy, and other amazing tasks with this model.”
While each program in Westchester has different curriculums and specialties, they all have new technologies and advanced equipment to help students get a practical education. The teachers and professors in this field also recognize that animal care is not an easy job.
“A position in any medical field requires science and math skills, but the veterinary medical field requires critical thinking skills as well,” says Colon. “Our patients can’t tell us what hurts or what they are feeling. Therefore, we have to have the knowledge, patience, and mental fortitude to figure it out.”
D’Abruzzo says the physical demands of the job can be hard and require a lot of patience. He also recognizes the challenge students face when making health decisions about sick and injured animals. Yet, he finds balance in how fulfilling the work can be.
“The students that come here have a true love for animals, so it doesn’t even feel like school to a lot of them,” says D’Abruzzo. “The challenges are balanced out by the rewarding nature of working with animals and helping them feel comfortable and enriched.”
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