Kellie Pickler is well-known for her tender-hearted love for animals. In 2008, she and close pal Carrie Underwood gave up eating meat, and in 2009, PETA even named Pickler the world’s sexiest vegetarian. But who would have thought that the ‘American Idol’ star’s great love for animals extends to the biggest of the bunch? In Pickler’s episode of ‘Day Jobs,’ which airs tonight (May 2), the ’100 Proof’ hitmaker gets to work as an elephant caretaker for a day!

During her experience on the show, Pickler worked as a caregiver at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Caretakers spend time in close proximity with the elephants, monitoring their behavior and making sure they are clean and well-fed. While filming, Pickler had the opportunity to spend a day learning the animals’ tragic stories and how the sanctuary is helping provide them with a quality of life they would have experienced in the wild. She also helped with the day-to-day tasks around the sanctuary.

“It’s so worth it to have the opportunity to be this close to them and really learn about their way of life and what they need to survive,” Pickler says (via GAC-TV). “It’s really, really amazing what the people here at the Elephant Sanctuary are doing. They’re so passionate about their job and that’s so important.”

With the exception of picking up big piles left behind by the elephants, Pickler thoroughly loved the experience — and even learned a few things, like how smart elephants truly are. “They’re so much like us, in the sense that they have feelings — they just don’t have a voice,” she explains to TV Guide. “There was a stray dog that bonded with one of the elephants there, and that elephant protected that dog like it was its own baby. This grown, big-ass elephant was best friends with this little-bitty dog! I’ve never seen anything like that.”

While the singer loves animals and is ‘Tough’ about taking good care of them, she says that if she had her pick of another dream job, it would be something that allows her to travel — like a flight attendant. The only problem? “I’d get the whole plane drunk!”

‘Day Jobs’ airs on Wednesday nights at 10PM ET on GAC-TV. Don’t miss your chance to see Pickler working with the elephants in tonight’s  all-new episode!

Watch a Sneak Peak of Kellie Pickler on ‘Day Jobs’

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