IWorkWithAnimals.

Michele Zinser grooming Titan What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do. Name: Michele Zinser Age: 53 Job Title: Owner and operator of Sudz 'n Style Mobile Grooming What kind of training do you need to enter the pet grooming business? There are two ways to enter the profession. You can start out at the bottom as a bather and learn the trade over time. Or the second way, which is what I did, is to go to a grooming school. I was a ...

Meghan Hopkins Name: Meghan Hopkins Age: 33 Job: After-care coordinator for Canine Assistants First things first: What is Canine Assistants? We train service dogs, free of charge, for people with disabilities or who have seizures. They can open and close doors, turn lights on and off, pull wheelchairs and detect seizures. We rely on donations to train the dogs and provide them to the recipients, who come from all over the country. The recipients come for a two-week training camp. The first day, we introduce them to four or five dogs we've chosen for them, and then that day, they choose the one they'll be working with. At that point, the dogs are trained, so it's really about training the ...

Ageless Northshore We all occasionally dream of running off to join the circus. Well, Larry Carden didn't have to dream. He was born into one! Carden took some time from his busy schedule traveling with the George Carden Circus, International (started by his father) to answer our questions about being an elephant trainer. Name: Larry Carden Age: 29 Job title: Elephant Trainer What do you do? My father owns 10 elephants. I work with all of them but when I'm on the road I work with four. I grew up around elephants and have been training them for 12 years -- as did my father before me and his father before him. What is it like to work with elephants? Taking care of an elephant is a ...

Dave Bullock/eecue.com What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do. Name: Brent "The Bug Guy" Karner Age: 39 Job: Manager of Invertebrate Living Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Tell me about what you do at the museum. It looks like a fun job! My job title is Manager of Invertebrate Living Collections, which is a mouthful, so I just call myself "Brent the Bug Guy." For the last 20 years, I've been using ...

Posted online by special permission of King Features Syndicate Technically, Patrick McDonnell works with imaginary animals. But for the millions who flip straight to the comics section, the "Mutts" crew is as real as their own pets. Everyone from PETA to the Humane Society of the United States have bestowed honors on McDonnell, and even late "Peanuts" artist Charles Schulz called "Mutts" "one of the best comic strips of all time." This fall, McDonnell publishes "Wags," a children's book about what makes "Mutts" star Earl's tail wag. Name: Patrick McDonnell Age: 53 Job: Author and illustrator of the comic strip "Mutts" and 13 compilation books. Earl was inspired by your prior Jack ...

Just another day at the office: Kevin Richardson swims with Meg the lion in the Crocodile River just south of the Magaliesburg mountains, near Johannesburg, South Africa. BARM/Fame Pictures What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do. Name: Kevin Richardson Age: 34 Job: Animal behaviorist, lion tamer, author and film producer based in South Africa This amazing shot of you and Meg had animal lovers in a tizzy. When did you start working ...