The occupational survey's purpose was to identify the skills which are performed and essential for success in three veterinary lay occupations: animal health assistant, animal hospital receptionist, and animal health technician. Survey objectives were accomplished by constructing an initial task inventory of 21 duty areas, validating the initial inventory, and conducting a random survey of 100 veterinarians. A computer analysis of the 40 survey responses resulted in a computation of frequencies and means for each task statement. The analyses findings cover the 268 specific tasks performed in each of the three veterinarian lay occupations, the relative importance of the specific task, and a comparison among the three occupations for each task statement. The findings are supported by tables showing the statistical means and frequencies. A 16-item bibliography is appended. (BP)