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How to hire an animal control officer

Animal control officer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring animal control officers in the United States:

  • There are currently 8,281 animal control officers in the US, as well as 87,725 job openings.
  • Animal control officers are in the highest demand in Los Angeles, CA, with 6 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire an animal control officer is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new animal control officer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire an animal control officer, step by step

To hire an animal control officer, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire an animal control officer:

Here's a step-by-step animal control officer hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write an animal control officer job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new animal control officer
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an animal control officer do?

An animal control officer is an individual who enforces humane care regulations and animal licensing laws to maintain public safety. You are expected to perform a variety of tasks that include investigating animal cruelty cases, rescuing trapped animals, and capturing stray or dangerous animals. In addition, you will handle animals, including pets and wildlife, and investigate animal abuse and mistreatment. As an animal control officer, it is also your duty to provide animal care, such as feeding the animals and giving them attention.

Learn more about the specifics of what an animal control officer does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you post your animal control officer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an animal control officer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect animal control officer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

    Here's a comparison of animal control officer salaries for various roles:

    Type of Animal Control OfficerDescriptionHourly rate
    Animal Control Officer$11-32
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • PET
    • Patrol
    • Law Enforcement Agencies
    • County Ordinances
    • Wild Animals
    • Euthanize
    • Animal Handling
    • Dead Animals
    • Stray Animals
    • Emergency Calls
    • State Laws
    • Issue Citations
    • Public Safety
    • Animal Control Laws
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Write citations pick up neglect and stray animals euthanize sick animals
    • Train and maintain a certify explosives detector K9.
    • Examine dog licenses for validity and issue warnings or summonses to delinquent owners.
    • Perform investigations, including gathering evidence, testifying in court, issuing and reviewing summonses and formal reports.
    • Field patrol including the collection and euthanasia of sick/unclaim animals.
    • Educate citizens in a professional and non-confrontational manner on responsible pet ownership.
    More animal control officer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in the animal control officer job description is a good way to get more applicants. An animal control officer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

    For example, the average salary for an animal control officer in New Mexico may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level animal control officer. Additionally, an animal control officer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

    Average animal control officer salary

    $39,903yearly

    $19.18 hourly rate

    Entry-level animal control officer salary
    $23,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 28, 2025

    Average animal control officer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$49,341$24
    2Massachusetts$48,908$24
    3Indiana$46,819$23
    4Washington$44,757$22
    5Kentucky$40,251$19
    6New York$40,165$19
    7New Jersey$40,138$19
    8Virginia$39,274$19
    9Montana$38,916$19
    10Michigan$38,880$19
    11Utah$36,551$18
    12Texas$36,046$17
    13North Carolina$35,353$17
    14New Mexico$33,993$16
    15Illinois$32,956$16
    16Florida$32,704$16
    17Iowa$32,041$15
    18Georgia$30,565$15
    19Oklahoma$30,377$15
    20Arkansas$28,504$14

    Average animal control officer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Citi$115,692$55.6264
    2Oppenheimer & Co$74,921$36.023
    3Wells Fargo$71,084$34.1730
    4Polk County Sheriff's Office$61,406$29.523
    5Credit Suisse$59,630$28.67
    6Santa Clara University$59,297$28.51
    7Jefferson County Sheriffs Dept$57,126$27.462
    8Hays Companies$53,002$25.486
    9Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh$51,555$24.791
    10Arkansas Department of Health$50,778$24.41
    11King County$48,460$23.307
    12Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County$48,378$23.26
    13Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group$47,050$22.62
    14York County$45,625$21.943
    15Greater Birmingham Humane Society$45,286$21.771
    16City of Los Angeles$44,776$21.534
    17Citizens Alliance$44,624$21.4552
    18City of Detroit$44,361$21.332
    19City of Corinth$44,330$21.312
    20Oakland County, Michigan Government$42,984$20.672
  4. Writing an animal control officer job description

    A good animal control officer job description should include a few things:

    • Summary of the role
    • List of responsibilities
    • Required skills and experience

    Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an animal control officer job description:

    Animal control officer job description example

    • High school diploma or general education degree (GED); or one to three months related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
    • Must have supervisory experience
    • Must have flexible availability
    • Must have Valid Class C Driver’s License
    • Must obtain a certification as a Basic Animal Control Officer through the Texas Department of Health within six months of employment.
    • Obtain Euthanasia certification from an accredited training agency within six (6) months of employment.
    Company DescriptionADASTAFF, Inc. is a women-owned, small business staffing and direct-hire recruitment company. Our company was founded in 1993 in Arlington, Texas, and has seen explosive growth since our humble beginning. With our corporate office located in Mansfield and offices spread throughout Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, we are well-suited to handle complex and diverse customers. Our staffing professionals are committed to providing our clients with professional, courteous service and support to ensure we are able to satisfy the most challenging staffing situations.

    We pride ourselves on the ability to identify, process, and deliver quality employees who meet our client's specific hiring criteria. Our hands-on approach from the earliest stages of recruitment to the actual placement, allows us to qualify each candidate and have a high level of confidence in his or her ability to perform for our clients.

    We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and we prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind.

    It is the policy of ADASTAFF to seek qualified candidates for positions throughout ADASTAFF without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or disability, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and other applicable Federal, state and local laws. This policy fully embraces equality of opportunity with respect to all employment matters. All employment decisions and personnel actions such as assignment, placement, compensation, benefits, transfers, layoffs, & return from layoff, are based on business needs, job requirements, and candidate qualifications without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or disability.

    We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and expect that our colleagues and associates are committed to a work environment free of discrimination and harassment.
  5. Post your job

    There are a few common ways to find animal control officers for your business:

    • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your animal control officer job on Zippia to find and recruit animal control officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit animal control officers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new animal control officer

    Once you've decided on a perfect animal control officer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire an animal control officer?

There are different types of costs for hiring animal control officers. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new animal control officer employee.

The median annual salary for animal control officers is $39,903 in the US. However, the cost of animal control officer hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring an animal control officer for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $11 and $32 an hour.

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