Professional Animal Workers (PAWS) - Individuals with Disabilities

Entry level animal workers are employed in kennels, animal day care centers, groomers, and other animal-centered businesses. They perform duties including basic animal care, feeding, and clean up, as well as routine clerical tasks like answering phones, greeting customers, scheduling appointments, and correspondence.

This program features courses that will provide students with learning differences or disabilities entry level skills to effectively care for, work with, and identify the needs of animals in a safe, calm, and sensitive manner in a professional setting. Students will also learn essential skills for employment. Internships are arranged and provided by program staff. This program provides instruction that is multisensory, multimodal, and personalized, and that incorporates elements of universal design for learning. Classes are taught with a low student-teacher ratio to better meet the needs of individual learners.​

Students entering this program should have a desire to work with animals of all types and breeds, basic computer skills, and be detail-oriented.

Entry level animal care jobs can be found with for-profit and non-profit organizations. Additional career information may be found in Career Coach: https://ccbcmd.lightcastcc.com

Program Course Sequence