Which best describes the role of an animal breeder?

An animal breeder is primarily involved in raising animals through selective breeding, which is the practice of breeding animals with specific desired traits to produce offspring that inherit those attributes. This process can aim to enhance certain characteristics such as appearance, behavior, or health. Breeders carefully choose parent animals based on their genetics and lineage to achieve specific goals in the offspring, such as improving disease resistance or optimizing performance in various tasks.

The other roles mentioned, such as rehabilitating injured animals, caring for animals in shelters, or training animals for service work, focus on different aspects of animal care and management that do not directly relate to the breeding process. Rehabilitating injured animals involves restoring health and mobility to those that are hurt, while caring for shelter animals focuses on providing homes and care for abandoned or stray animals. Training animals for service work is about enhancing an animal's skills for specific tasks or services rather than breeding them for specific traits. Thus, while all these roles contribute to the welfare of animals, the defining characteristic of an animal breeder's role specifically involves selective breeding practices.