Full-time for animals

Stephen Cary

Rebecca Cary, senior staff attorney for the HSUS, cuddles a miniature horse.

Today, Cary is a senior staff attorney in the Humane Society of the United States’ Animal Protection Litigation department, working in the constitutional and policy defense section. When animal protection laws—ballot initiatives protecting farm animals; ordinances protecting puppy mill dogs—are challenged in the courts, Cary’s team defends them. As a child, she couldn’t imagine a job like this one. Nor could most grownups: When Cary said she loved animals, adults said something like, “Maybe you’ll be a veterinarian!” It’s a response familiar to any animal-loving kid, but it doesn’t take into account the myriad careers available in the animal welfare field, from hands-on positions (adoption counselor, wildlife rehabilitator, behaviorist) to other roles (shelter architect, fundraiser, advocacy journalist).

When you expand your thinking, almost any professional interest can become a career for animals. Animal-related organizations hire accountants, graphic designers, scientists, web developers, database administrators … the list goes on. And whether you’re a high schooler pondering your future or an adult considering a mid-life career change, there are plenty of approaches to finding a fulfilling, compassionate career that maximizes your skills and makes the world a kinder one for animals.

Lisa J. Godfrey/For the HSUS

Chris Schindler visits with a cat rescued from a flooded home in Lavallette, New Jersey.

Different schools of thought

“I knew I wanted to work with animals, I just didn’t know how,” says Lindsay Hamrick, director of companion animal policy at the HSUS. A program allowed her to shadow veterinarians during her senior year of high school, and she went on to study animal science and psychology in college, work at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Guinea for six months, obtain a master’s in animals and public policy and then become the director of operations at a New Hampshire shelter. For most people wanting to enter the field, this probably sounds pretty intimidating.

But Hamrick notes that people should weigh the cost of education (i.e., will you be paying student loans until you retire?) against the potential benefits (i.e., how much does specialized education really help in the field?). Although Hamrick wouldn’t take back her education, she says that her hands-on experiences gave her the best grasp of the issues that animals—and people who work with animals—face.

Schindler’s experiences were worth their weight in, well, a diploma. “I got my GED at 17, and I never went to college or did any higher education. I never really felt like I was at home in that type of work,” he says, adding that he bought his first suit at Target for his interview with the HSUS. “My work ethic and willingness to buckle down helped me create my own career path.” 

Of course, some careers do require specialized education, as Cary experienced. In high school, she attended a social justice program, where she met with grassroots activists and attorneys from the civil rights movement. She saw how the two approaches worked together, eventually leading to long-term, structural change made and enforced in the courts. “And that was just really inspiring to me,” she says.

In college at the University of California, San Diego, Cary and another student started an animal welfare group to protest medical testing on dogs. One spring, she interned at the Fund for Animals (now an HSUS affiliate). “I met a couple of other people who were pursuing animal law and thought to myself, ‘My goodness! This is something you can do as a career!’ ” That epiphany (along with her participation in two HSUS-led lawsuits) led her to law school at Northeastern University, which led to a legal clerkship with the HSUS, which eventually led to a position here. She’s been with the organization for 10 years. “There are many valuable parts to play in animal protection, and the law is where I feel like I can personally have the biggest impact,” says Cary.

For hands-on positions, Schindler says that above education, he looks for animal handling experience and passion. You can train people in animal handling techniques, but innate animal handling skills and the right personality can’t be taught, he says, noting that you can’t be afraid or reactive when you’re alone in the field. He often promotes from within and recently promoted a front desk associate to animal control officer. Those interested in working in the field can join animal control officers for “ride-alongs,” which provide a better idea of what the job requires.

“You really have to learn from responding in the field and interfacing with people and the public,” says Schindler, noting that the Humane Rescue Alliance gets 20,000 service calls each year. Even after 23 years in the field, “I don’t know everything. Nobody does. So we all have to keep learning from each other.”