Animal Control Jobs

Because both the city and county animal shelters are always filled to the brim with animals, there’s a certain amount of job security involved in an animal control job.

Often, you have to work your way up the chain of commands, which means you may start with an unappealing job such as cleaning cages all day or euthanizing animals.

There is a lot of public administration work involved the higher up you go in city/county animal shelter work, and in addition to requiring skills in animal services management, animal licensing, animal recovery/sheltering, pet adoption, and reuniting lost and found pets with owners, you must also be adept at planning, organizing, staffing and directing personnel.

You should also be able to work well in government/public service environments, and, typically, have a degree from a four-year college or university (preferably a bachelor’s degree in public or business administration).

In order to reach management positions, which can pay upwards of $80,000 to $100,000 in larger cities, you must have management experience, strong communication skills, and all the basic knowledge of the department you are expected to run.