A day in the life of an animal talent agent

Where do I begin? When I first set up Urban Paws UK with my trusty Yorkshire Terrier Buttons, I could’ve never imagined how well the business would take off. I’ve always loved animals and having worked as a professional model myself, I certainly knew the tricks of the trade. The move from model to agent seems like a natural evolution, but I figured that managing people was far too dull. Managing dogs, cats, parrots, rabbits, and any other animal you can think of? Now we’re talking. 

I begin the day with a scan of my inbox. At Urban Paws UK we regularly receive applications from pet owners who think their Beagle or Bengal is the next Lassie or Puss in Boots. A lot of the time these animals will be great looking but will only have basic (if any) obedience training. We need animals that will sit still and pose for the camera, sometimes for log periods on end, so obedience is key. If a pet model has been ‘trick-trained’, that’s even better, as we can put them forward for roles as an ‘animal actor’. Essentially, these are more complex gigs that require specific skills, in addition to the always essential skill of not getting freaked out by large crowds on set! Working out whether an animal could be the next big thing really gets me excited, and the regular influx of new talent means that my job is always varied. 

On an average day, I’ll take a handful of calls from clients in need of a specific animal (s) to star in their production. These could be film studios, television companies, or PR agencies looking for that animal, usually a dog or cat. I say usually, as we’ve been tasked with sourcing some pretty crazy animals over the years, from tigers to ostriches! 

Most of my time is spent negotiating and ensuring that our talent and clients both get a fair deal and that we choose the correct animal(s) for the job. Recently, however, we’ve also started working with smaller businesses and have pioneered a new form of advertising; pet influencer marketing. 

Pet influencers are just like their human counterparts; social media superstars who can leverage their influential position to become brand ambassadors, urging their followers to use products or services that they feel a particular affinity with. My team’s job is to sign only the best pet influencers and feed them out to clients in need of a unique marketing strategy. I say the best and not the biggest, as ‘petfluencers’ with smaller follower counts can be just as viable for smaller businesses looking to target a niche audience. Helping these businesses grow is often more rewarding than working on the more high-profile media campaigns. 

On top of managing our social media pages and implementing our own marketing strategies, my team focuses on signing the right influencer to the right brand. In addition to posting on their own pages, we also help to facilitate PR events like meet and greets and photo opportunities, which are always super fun to get behind. 

Being an animal talent agent is as rewarding as it is exciting. I’ve been able to work with some of the biggest brands out there, from Disney to Gucci and no two campaigns are ever the same. Through all the feathers and the fur, it’s an amazing job that allows me to see regular people’s pets flourish and transform into animal stars, and really, that’s the greatest reward.