Interdisciplinary Supervisory- Biological Scientist/Veterinary Medical Officer
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
FreshPosted Feb 27
✓ Fresh Listing
Posted: February 27, 2026 (1 day ago)
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Veterinary Assistant II
City of Indianapolis
Animal Care Services
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46204
Salary
From $22.55
per hour
Type
Closes
May 29, 2026
SES Pay Grade
Base salary range: $147,649 - $221,900
Typical requirements: Executive-level leadership experience. Senior executive qualifications required.
Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).
Job Description
Summary
This job involves helping care for animals in a city shelter by checking their health, giving treatments, and assisting with medical procedures under a veterinarian's guidance.
It's a hands-on role that includes tasks like running tests, grooming neglected animals, and even performing euthanasia when needed.
A good fit would be someone with a couple of years of experience as a vet assistant who is compassionate, detail-oriented, and comfortable handling all kinds of animals, including larger or aggressive ones.
Key Requirements
- At least two years of experience as a veterinary assistant in a clinic or shelter
- Strong knowledge of animal health, diseases, and veterinary medicine, preferably in a shelter environment
- Skills in performing diagnostic tests (e.g., skin scrapes, fecal tests, bloodwork, x-rays) and physical examinations
- Ability to safely and humanely handle and control potentially aggressive animals over 50 lbs
- Proficiency in administering medications, preparing treatments, and assisting with procedures like wound care and euthanasia
- Effective communication with diverse staff, public, and professionals, plus legible writing and computer skills for record-keeping
- Availability for weekend and evening hours, with monitoring of medical supplies and animal transport
Full Job Description
Agency Summary
The purpose and mission of Animal Care Services is advocating animal welfare, adoption, and rescue.
The agency does this by protecting and promoting the health, safety, and welfare of pets and livestock in Marion County.
The agency is able to do this by cultivating a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment in order for our workforce to meet the needs of the constituents of Indianapolis and Marion County.
Job SummaryPositions is responsible for assessing health of animals, triaging medical needs and assisting with medical duties as required.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The City of Indianapolis Marion County is an equal opportunity employer.
All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.
We value diversity in perspectives and experiences among colleagues and the residents of this city of whom we serve.
Requirements
- Administer medications to animals
- Assesses the health of animals in the shelter
- Assists the veterinarian during shelter rounds
- Provides input on euthanasia decisions for medical reasons
- Performs animal euthanasia
- Performs diagnostic skin scrapes on animals
- Performs diagnostic fecal parasite tests on animals
- Utilizes equipment to perform diagnostics including bloodwork and x-rays
- Clips and cleans wounds
- Assesses animals for pregnancy
- Assesses animals for fleas, ear mites, and other external parasites
- Enters and updates animal medical records
- Grooms severely neglected animals
- Monitors medical supply inventory
- Transports animals to veterinary clinics for spay-neuter surgery or other medical treatments
- Prepares medications
- Assist with procedures including but not limited to ear cleanings, dental cleanings, iv catheter placement, and bandage changes
Qualifications
Must have at least two (2) years working experience as a veterinary assistant in a veterinary clinic or animal shelter. Must be able to communicate with a culturally diverse staff and public and always display professional and courteous behavior. Must be able to write legibly and learn to use the shelter management computer system. Weekend and evening hours may be required. Must have a strong knowledge of animal health and diseases.Must have strong knowledge of veterinary medicine, preferably in a shelter setting. Must have skills such as performing diagnostic tests and physical examinations on animals. Must be able to effectively communicate with veterinarians, managers, kennel and field staff in a professional and courteous manner. Must be able to safely and humanely handle and control potentially aggressive animals in excess of 50 lbs.
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