Animal Care Assistant – Weekend

About the Role

You’ll join Vets Now’s Glasgow Pet Emergency Hospital as a Weekend Animal Care Assistant, working every Saturday and Sunday from 07:00–17:00, plus a fair share of bank holidays. This is your chance to be part of a dynamic emergency and specialist referral team in a bustling 24/7 facility that handles first-class referral work and out-of-hours emergency cases for practices across Glasgow and beyond.

Working under the guidance of Vet Nurses and Vet Surgeons, you’ll develop practical skills in patient care while supporting the clinical team through a variety of hands-on tasks. The role offers genuine variety—no two shifts are the same in emergency practice—and you’ll quickly gain exposure to the pace and problem-solving that defines ECC work.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist clinical teams in providing comfortable, stress-free in-patient care in a busy emergency environment
• Handle patients and assist with basic procedures under veterinary supervision
• Support diagnostic testing and prepare materials for diagnostic work
• Set up and clear down surgical theatres before and after procedures
• Attend to all in-patient husbandry needs, including feeding, hydration, hygiene, and comfort

Requirements

• Enthusiasm for animal care and a calm, compassionate approach to patient handling
• Ability to work as part of a team in a fast-paced, unpredictable environment
• Physical capability to handle animals and work through busy weekend shifts
• Reliability and commitment to weekend and bank holiday working patterns
• A genuine interest in emergency veterinary medicine

Benefits

• Hourly rate: £13.45ph
• 7 weeks pro rata annual leave
• Birthday as a paid day off
• Cash Health Plan provided by Simply Health
• £780 CPD allowance pro rata, plus 10 hours paid CPD annually pro rata
• Vets Now For You rewards gateway with discounts and cashback at 100s of retailers
• Up to 50% discounted staff pet care
• Family-friendly policies: enhanced sick pay, maternity, paternity, and adoption pay schemes
• UK Standard Pension: 5% employee / 3% employer contributions
• Paid volunteering days
• Death in service benefit: two times annual salary

About the Practice

Vets Now is the UK’s leading provider of emergency pet care, operating over 60 dedicated out-of-hours clinics and two 24/7 pet emergency hospitals. The Glasgow Pet Emergency Hospital is one of these flagship facilities, delivering both specialist referral services and round-the-clock emergency care to veterinary practices throughout Glasgow and the surrounding region.

The hospital brings together a dedicated multidisciplinary team of Vet Surgeons, Nurses, Animal Care Assistants, and Receptionists, all focused on providing high-quality emergency and specialist care when pets need it most. The team values flexibility, professional development, and creating a supportive workplace culture where all team members can thrive.