Animal Control Officer Resources

ACO Training

2024 Training Requirements

NEW ACOs: Maine ACO Certification Course required within 6 months of appointment by a municipality.

Maintenance of ACO Certification requires 8 hours of annual training, beginning the year following certification.

There are five Core subject areas in which 1 training hour must be taken every 3 years.

Core 1- ACO Safety
Core 2- Ethics
Core 3- HIPAA for Law Enforcement
Core 4- Officer Wellness & Mental Health Awareness
Core 5- Implicit Human Bias

ACOs must submit their training certificates to AWP by 12/31 each year to maintain certification. Failure to complete the required 8 hours in any year results in a lapse of certification beginning January 1 of the following year. Retaking the ACO Certification Course is the only way to regain certification following a lapse.

Submit Proof of Training

Animal Control Officer Certification

To be certified as an Animal Control Officer in Maine, the completion of our Online ACO Certification Training is required. The training consists of the core competencies that all ACOs must be aware of to perform their duties efficiently and includes the basic and advanced training requirements laid out by M.S.R.A. Chapter 717 §3906-B(4).

All trainees will be required to register with an email address to receive the instruction for the online training.
Cost: $50
Registration Form (PDF)

ACO Continuing Education Training

Advance approval is recommended for any non-AWP-sponsored or pre-approved courses for CE credit. The request should be submitted to the AWP not less than 2 weeks before the date the course is to begin. Please email the request to Connor.Egan@Maine.gov.

Pre-approved low-cost and no-cost courses are abundantly available. You can find Maine ACO Pre-approved courses below: Please note that some trainings will be hosted and/or organized by a third party.

Approved Courses on Justice Clearinghouse +

Maine ACO Preapproved Training Courses.

The courses are all approved to fulfill CE requirements. Some courses are also approved to fill CORE requirements and are marked at the bottom of the detailed page once you click on the individual course of interest.

For example: This webinar has been pre-approved by the Maine Animal Welfare Program for 1 Continuing Education Unit in Core Area 4 (Officer Wellness & Mental Health) for the State of Maine's ACO annual training. You can find more information about Certification, required annual training or submitting materials for credit at Maines Animal Control Officer Resource Page.

Need an account? If you do not have an active Justice Clearinghouse account, please email animal.welfare@maine.gov to request an account.

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Approved Courses on National Animal Care and Control Association +

Free ACO Training Courses.

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August 27, 2025 Mental Health First Aid Certification Course +

Date: August 27, 2025

Organization: National Animal Care & Control Association

Location: Zoom & Self-paced content

Instructor: Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach

Fee: $170

Credit: 9 hours of CE, Fulfills the Core 4 requirement

Do you want to gain easy-to-use, evidence-based tools and increase your confidence in and ability to deal with mental health situations in your work as an animal care and control professional? Do you want to be able to better support your co-workers and volunteers when they are experiencing mental health challenges, and/or more effectively handle mental health crisis situations you encounter on your field service calls? If so, national MHFA certification is for you, and NACA, in Partnership with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, is forming a first-of-its-kind program to be offered strictly to animal care and control professionals!

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September 17, 2025 Mental Health First Aid Certification Course +

Date: September 17, 2025

Organization: National Animal Care & Control Association

Location: Zoom & Self-paced content

Instructor: Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach

Fee: $170

Credit: 9 hours of CE, Fulfills the Core 4 requirement

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ACO Lunch & Learn Video Library

Animal Control Officers can earn a CEU by watching the video on YouTube and then taking (and passing) a quiz. Quiz links are available on the videos. Quizzes can be taken with unlimited attempts, but a passing score of 80% is required to receive credit.

August 13, 2025 : Maine Humane August Public Meeting

April 25, 2025 : Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in 2025: Birds, Cows, Cats, Humans - Situational Awareness for Animal Control Officers

March 28, 2025 : Livestock Investigations - Part 2

January 31, 2025 : Livestock Investigations Part 1

October 25, 2024 : ACO Lunch and Learn : Rabies 2024 Update

August 30, 2024 : Common Issues for ACOs (including summons writing)

July 26, 2024 : Body Condition Scoring Basics

June 28, 2024 : Animals and Mental Health; Operating in Grey Areas

May 31, 2024 : Dangerous Dogs from Complaint to Courtroom

April 26, 2024 : HSUS Handling "Nuisance" Wildlife Calls

April 12, 2024 : Animal Hoarding with Rachel Welch

February 23, 2024 : Community Cats: How to navigate cat complaints in your community