Animal Control Officer Nate Beckstead holding a cat in front of kennels

Training and resources for animal control officers

The world of animal care and control is forever changing. Today’s animal care and control leaders are curious about their field and committed to staying abreast of the latest research, trends and operations from their colleagues. Whether you are an animal control or municipal employee new to this field or a seasoned veteran, we hope that these resources will empower you and your agency to expand the level of service you bring to the people and animals in your community.

FEATURED RESOURCES

Field Return to Owner Training Playbook- This playbook is designed to provide an overview of field return-to-owner (F-RTO) programs and help you implement an aggressive F-RTO program at your animal control agency. The primary goal of this type of program is to reunite lost animals with their owners while the officer is still on duty rather than taking the animals into the shelter.

Beyond the Scanner Advanced Field RTO in the field techniques webinar- Animal control officers play an integral role today in the reduction of shelter intake by choosing to identify and return stray dogs to their families without bringing them into the shelter, but all too often, officers stop looking for an owner was they find that the animal has no ID, tags, or microchip. This workshop highlights successful efforts from agencies across the country that have shown to significantly increase the field RTO rate for those animals without obvious identification.

Community Engagement The Lifesaving Philosophy webinar- The term “community engagement” gets thrown around a lot, as if it is something that an officer can do if they have a few extra minutes. To unlock the full potential of community engagement, however, we must start thinking of it as less of a project and more of a state of mind. This lifesaving philosophy will not only help save the lives of animals but could potentially save an officer's life as well. In this course you will learn how embracing community engagement as a mindset can, and will, increase lifesaving efforts and officer safety. Click below to watch.