Animal Control Workers

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Issue warnings or citations in connection with animal-related offenses, or contact police to report violations and request arrests.
• Examine animals for injuries or malnutrition, and arrange for any necessary medical treatment.
• Organize the adoption of unclaimed animals.
• Examine animal licenses, and inspect establishments housing animals for compliance with laws.
• Investigate reports of animal attacks or animal cruelty, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and writing reports.
• Capture and remove stray, uncontrolled, or abused animals from undesirable conditions, using nets, nooses, or tranquilizer darts as necessary.
• Issue warnings or citations in connection with animal-related offenses, or contact police to report violations and request arrests.
• Remove captured animals from animal-control service vehicles and place animals in shelter cages or other enclosures.
• Investigate reports of animal attacks or animal cruelty, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and writing reports.
• Prepare for prosecutions related to animal treatment, and give evidence in court.
• Euthanize rabid, unclaimed, or severely injured animals.
• Answer inquiries from the public concerning animal control operations.
• Write reports of activities, and maintain files of impoundments and dispositions of animals.
• Examine animal licenses, and inspect establishments housing animals for compliance with laws.
• Supply animals with food, water, and personal care.
• Clean facilities and equipment such as dog pens and animal control trucks.
• Write reports of activities, and maintain files of impoundments and dispositions of animals.
• Capture and remove stray, uncontrolled, or abused animals from undesirable conditions, using nets, nooses, or tranquilizer darts as necessary.
• Investigate reports of animal attacks or animal cruelty, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and writing reports.
• Educate the public about animal welfare, and animal control laws and regulations.
• Contact animal owners to inform them that their pets are at animal holding facilities.

Skills

• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

Abilities

• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

Knowledge

• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

65210/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

31.35/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

260

Yearly Projected Openings

30

Personality

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

• Dependability
• Integrity
• Self Control
• Stress Tolerance
• Independence
• Cooperation

Tools

• Air rifles or air handguns
• Animal control traps
• Animal transport cage
• Bar code reader equipment
• Cages or its accessories
• Compressed air gun
• Crimping pliers
• Digital cameras
• Dog catching pole
• Handguns
• Lariats
• Leashes or leads
• Lifts
• Light trucks or sport utility vehicles
• Medical acoustic stethoscopes
• Muzzles
• Personal computers
• Security cameras
• Sporting shotguns
• Tongs
• Two way radios
• Winches

Technology

• Cloud-based data access and sharing software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Geographic information system
• Internet browser software
• Office suite software
• Operating system software
• Presentation software
• Process mapping and design software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software