Animal Protection Officer - Denver Animal Protection

About Our Job

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose - for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $32.44 - $50.28. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to :

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 457B Retirement Plan
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 11 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday and 1 volunteer day per year
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location

In this position you can expect to work on site at the Denver Animal Shelter, located at 1241 W. Bayaud Ave., Denver, CO 80223.

What You'll Do

Within the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE), Denver Animal Protection (DAP) protects the safety and welfare of Denver's animals and residents by fostering the human animal bond. DAP emphasizes public and animal safety and health, encourages responsible pet ownership through education and enforcing compliance with animal-related municipal code requirements, and cares for animals at the Denver Animal Shelter (DAS). More information can be found at : DDPHE : Denver Animal Protection.

We foster an inclusive culture by respecting the values, customs, and authenticity of everyone and by implementing equitable public health strategies so Denver communities can thrive.

DAP has an opening for an Animal Protection Officer . This position will enforce local and regional laws concerning the care and treatment of animals, investigate complaints of non-compliance with animal ordinances and laws, investigate animal bites to people and animal attacks, serve a public health function by inspecting animal related facilities and managing zoonotic disease control, act as a court liaison on violations pertaining to the issuance of legal summonses, and provide education to the public regarding animal care, safety, and welfare. Additionally, this position will handle domestic and wild animals on a routine basis in situations where situational awareness, personal safety, and community safety is paramount.

Specifically, the Animal Protection Officer :

Responds to complaints about inappropriate animal behavior, enforces rabies vaccination and licensing requirements and dog leash laws, and collects, impounds, and cares for animals. Issues legal summonses to leash law violators, owners of unvaccinated and unlicensed dogs, and other violations. Writes legal affidavits for search warrants and court orders, executes search warrants, and enforces court orders related to animals.

Performs inspections of animal-related establishments and ensures compliance with municipal ordinances, laws, regulations and contracts.

Returns animals to owners when the owner can be identified using city issued tags, micro-chips, or information from neighbors before an animal is taken to the shelter.

This position requires availability to work shifts in the morning, evening, overnight, on-call, on weekends, and on holidays. This shiftwork is a core function of the officer job role. Officers, including leads, work a 4 day per week, 10 hours per shift schedule.

This position is physically demanding, requiring intermittent periods of intense physical activity broken up by periods of driving or administrative work. Physical demands include lifting large animals into trucks or vans, running both short and longer distances, climbing, pulling, pushing, biking, and sometimes awkward physical movements. Each employee in this position is required to take a Health Performance Evaluation (HPE) on an annual basis regarding this type of work.

What You'll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics :

To be moved forward in the application process, you must obtain the following :

NOTE : AWAC Certification must be obtained within 12 months and Baton, OC Spray, and Euthanasia Certifications must be obtained within 6 months.

Required Minimum Qualifications

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than that date at 11 : 59 p.m. to ensure consideration.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CE2265 Environmental Public Health Investigator II

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Unlimited

Position Salary Range

32.44 - $50.28

Starting Pay

Based on education and experience.

Agency

Dept of Public Health & Environment

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and / or local law.

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact [email protected] with three business days' notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.