Glossary
Animal Control Officer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential animal control officer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key animal control officer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in animal control officer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Animal hoarding
- Keeping too many animals to care for properly.
- Bite quarantine
- Observing an animal after a bite to rule out rabies.
- Body condition score
- A scale for an animal’s weight and health.
- Catch pole
- A pole with a loop to control animals safely.
- Citation
- A ticket for violating animal laws.
- Cruelty
- Intentional harm to animals.
- Dangerous dog designation
- A legal status for aggressive dogs.
- Impound
- Taking an animal into custody.
- Leash law
- Rules requiring dogs to be leashed.
- Live trap
- A humane cage trap.
- Microchip
- An implanted ID chip.
- Neglect
- Failure to provide care.
- Rabies
- A deadly virus spread through bites.
- Stray hold
- The period owners have to reclaim animals.
- Zoonotic disease
- A disease that spreads from animals to people.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Animal Control Officer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Animal Control Officer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.