Learn how to evaluate animal health through Body Condition Scoring (BCS). This session provides a practical overview of BCS systems for dogs, cats, horses, goats, sheep, and pigs. Participants will gain confidence in identifying underweight, ideal, and overweight conditions—supporting better welfare, nutrition planning, health monitoring, and documentation for animal cruelty cases. Whether you are a shelter professional, animal control officer, veterinary staff, or livestock handler, this concise training will help you apply consistent scoring techniques across species to improve care and outcomes. We extend our sincere gratitude to our speakers, Dr. Karen Lee from Inland Valley Humane Society and Dr. Claudia Sonder from Napa CART for covering this important topic!

$25 Members

$35 Non-Members

Given the complex and ongoing challenges in our field, what can we do to care for ourselves, our peers, and staff? This webinar offers an introduction to common occupational stressors in animal care and protection services and evidence-based strategies to support wellbeing in high-stress, trauma-exposed work. Participants will learn terminology, symptoms, and risk factors related to empathic strain aka compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, PTSD, burnout, and moral distress. The session will provide practical, effective strategies that can be implemented on and off the clock to reduce stress and distress, create healthier workplaces, and tap into career-sustaining compassion satisfaction.

At the end of the session participants will:

· Identify key signs and symptoms that characterize stress injury in self and others

· Understand five evidence-based elements shown to reduce the harmful impact of stress and adversity in ongoing stressful work

· Implement simple strategies to support physical and mental recovery

· Offer targeted support to peers and staff through more effective check-ins

$25 - Members

$35 - Non-members

From community members to coworkers, we regularly encounter emotional upset and rude behavior in animal welfare work. In this webinar we’ll learn how to tap into our animal and human behavior skills to address this challenge more effectively! This session provides an introduction to emotional escalation: what it is, how to avoid common causes of agitation, and the basic skills needed to address emotionally escalated staff members and the public using a trauma-informed lens. This is a practical introduction to the basic skills needed to engage in effective verbal de-escalation on the job while interacting with people who are feeling distressed, angry, and frustrated.

At the end of the session participants will:

· Understand why people become escalated and how we may (unintentionally) contribute to the problem

· Identify their personal “stress signature” and learn self-regulation practices to de-escalate themselves

· Implement verbal strategies to reduce emotional intensity and restore cognitive function through a trauma-informed approach

· Utilize the 6 steps of “GO SLOW” to stay safe and help others return to calm

$25 Members

$35 Non-members

Animal Control Officers and Humane Officers now have the opportunity to complete a basic training academy on their own time, at their own pace, without travel.

This is a web-based, on-demand course consisting of more than 60 hours of training in California state laws and animal care, specifically to meet the requirements outlined in Health and Safety Code Sec 26222 and California Corporations Code Section 14502. This academy is a collection of video trainings conducted by a variety of exceptional experts in our field, along with quizzes to help ensure that content is understood. 

View Course Agenda 

$450 Members (staff of CalAnimals member organizations)

$500 Non-members (Learner Profile needed)

This training program was designed to ensure all animal officers throughout the state of California have access to quality training and industry best practices, and support each officer’s eligibility to become certified.

*This academy is open to everyone. It is not a requirement nor promise of employment.

Learn more about the CalAnimals 

Certified Animal Control Officer Program, 

our state’s voluntary certification program for ACOs. 

*To obtain certification:

1. You must be employed as an ACO

2. Taken PC 832 Arrest, Search and Seizure

3. Completed a qualifying animal law academy

Animal Control Officers and Humane Officers now have the opportunity to complete an advanced training academy on their own time, at their own pace, without travel.

This is a web-based, on-demand course consisting of more than 40 hours of training to advance skills for investigations, work more effectively with the public, respond to disasters, implement effective programs for cats, safely interact with wildlife, and more! This course meets the requirements for 40 CEUs every 3 years outlined in Health and Safety Code Sec 26222 and California Corporations Code Section 14502 for Certified Animal Control Officers and State Humane Officers. This academy is a collection of video trainings conducted by a variety of exceptional experts in our field.
View Course Agenda

$400 Members (staff of CalAnimals member organizations)

$450 Non-members (Learner Profile needed)

Learn more about renewing your CACO status. 

**Please note: CalAnimals webinars and trainings are for informational purposes only. Please check with your own municipality, legal counsel, and/or veterinarian to determine which activities are appropriate for your agency.

Starting in 2025, San Diego Humane Society and Marin Humane have joined with California Animal Welfare Association (CalAnimals), to create the California Animal Law Enforcement Academy.

This 80-hour Academy will provide consistent training two times a year. The California Animal Law Enforcement Academy is intended to provide training in California animal laws and animal care.

This course can satisfy the requirements mandated by section 14502 of the California Corporations Code for appointment and reappointment as a Humane Officer or satisfaction of Health and Safety Code 26222 for requirements to become a Certified Animal Control Officer (CACO) which is a voluntary program.

Each day will run approximately from 8:30am-5:30pm.

$400 - Payment and registration is through Marin Humane.

Questions?: scaldwell@marinhumane.org, 415.506.6209

Check back for the next California Animal Law Enforcement Academy, 10-day, in-person academy, held in San Diego. View their website for more information and to register. All 80 hours of instruction must be completed in order to receive a completion certificate.

Please note that the final decision as to whether a course satisfies the training requirements for humane officer appointment rests with the superior court charged with confirming the appointment.

$400 - Payment and registration is through San Diego Humane Society.