The only way I could see you earning 40-50k+ is if you were a successful horse trainer/owned a horse ranch that had training lessons for beginners or a pay per ride. Of course, you would need A LOT of acreage and a good reputation. Lastly, maybe if you worked at a dairy farm; I've heard of managers that operate making 100k+ but, that's not something you can "just do". You'd have to know someone, have a lot of experience, be very trusted, and be willing to work long hours everyday most likely.

Remember the saying "Do what you love and the money will follow."

My friend worked for a pet groomer one summer and thus learned to be a groomer and then owned her own business out of her house. She took dogs to dog shows and learned to be a Judge. Her husband taught obedience classes. She made really good money, but she worked at being good at what she did.

The University of Vermont has an outstanding Equine Science Program if you want to work with horses.

A guy I knew went to the University of Illinois and majored in Poultry and went to work for a major company that raises chickens. He makes good money. There are many colleges with majors in Animal Studies and Wildlife Conservation.

Don't let anyone discourage you if this is your passion as you only need one job. There will always be a need for Zoos and people who help with Marine Biology.

Besides being a vet or anything medical. And by well paying, probably $40-50,000 or above. I want to work with and interact with animals, but I'm not sure if being a vet is for me. I've been thinking about animal behavior, but will it be hard to find jobs for it? In my wildest dreams, I've thought of making my own business for animal behavior- helping owners and their pet. Just recently, I'm realizing that maybe studying and interacting with wild animals seems pretty cool, too. I just want to make a great living while working with animals.