One of America's Most-Dangerous Jobs May Surprise You

By BETH DALBEY (Patch Staff)

One of the most dangerous jobs in America may surprise you because it involves so much furry cuteness.

Firefighters, corrections and police officers, lumberjacks and other jobs associated with peril are on the list compiled by the job listing website CareerCast, but so are animal-care workers.

“People who work with animals suffer a lot of injuries, including bites and scratches,” CareerCast online content editor Kyle Kensing, who wrote the report, told Forbes. “It’s also highly dangerous for animal care workers to go into hoarding situations.”

The Humane Society of the United States said a quarter of a million animals a year are held by hoarders.

CareerCast compiled its list from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates, which showed 4,585 on-the-job fatalities in 2013.

Here are the top 10 most-dangerous jobs, according to CareerCast, along with median salary information:

1. Airline pilot, $98,410
2. Animal-care worker, $19,970
3. Construction laborer, $29,160
4. Emergency medical technician, $31,020
5. Enlisted military personnel, $21,664 (Private First Class E-3, United States Army)
6. Firefighter, $45,250
7. Heavy and tractor-trailer driver, $38,200
8. Lumberjack/logger, $33,630
9. Parole/corrections officer, $48,190
10. Police officer, $56,980

--Photo via Flickr