AACIS’ ACO certification course approved for use in Florida
AACIS animal control officer certification course approval
On 12/8/2021, the Florida Animal Control Association (FACA) approved the American Animal Cruelty Investigations School’s (AACIS) animal control officer certification course for use in the state of Florida. The approval came after tensions rose between AACIS and FACA over a training conference for animal control officers.
As a response to COVID-19, the Florida Animal Control Association cancelled their annual training conference scheduled for the early March 2021. As a result, many animal control agencies reached out to the American Animal Cruelty Investigations School and asked if the training institute would host a training conference for the animal care and control professionals. On July 23, 2021, AACIS executive director Doug Eddins announced that AACIS would host a conference in Orlando, Florida for November 12-13 2021. Animal control agencies were happy to hear the news and began registering for the conference immediately; FACA had a very different response.
In response to the announcement, the Florida Animal Control Association blasted a statewide mass e-mail condemning AACIS for hosting a national animal care and control professional training conference. The e-mail was meant to deter people from attending the AACIS conference and several agencies across the state were swayed into not registering for the conference. Additionally, several sponsors and vendors withdrew from supporting the conference based on the e-mail sent by FACA.
In response to the malicious attack on AACIS and its conference, AACIS requested that the Florida Animal Control Association approve its 40-hour animal control officer certification course for use in the state of Florida. FACA did not respond to this request, prompting AACIS to have their legal counsel reach out to FACA in a formal letter.
On December 8, 2021, the Florida Animal Control Association sent AACIS a letter granting conditional approval if the following changes were made:
1. Remove certification language for the Child Abuse Recognition and Mandatory Reporting portion of the class.
2. Reduce the LAW111 (Child Abuse Recognition and Mandatory Reporting) from a one-hour course to a 20-minute overview.
3. Removal of sections from ACO099 (Introduction to Animal Control) that notify the student that the AACIS chemical immobilization course meets the requirements prescribed under Chapter 828.27 Florida Statutes.
4. Removal of sections from ACO099 (Introduction to Animal Control) that notify the student that the AACIS humane euthanasia technician course meets the requirements prescribed under Florida law.
5. Removal of learning objective L-ACO099.3.01 that states, “Know that AACIS may act against an animal control officer’s certification for a criminal conviction of any felony in any state.”
6. Removal of learning objective L-ACO099.3.02 that states, “Know that AACIS may act against an animal control officer’s certification for a criminal conviction of any violation of Florida law involving animals.”
7. Removal of learning objective L-ACO099.3.03 that states, “Know that AACIS may act against an animal control officer’s certification for a criminal conviction of any violation of Florida law involving domestic violence or sexual assault.”
8. Removal of learning objective L-ACO099.3.04 that states, “Know that AACIS may act against an animal control officer’s certification for misuse of official position or making false statements in an official capacity.”
9. Removal of learning objective L-ACO099.3.05 that states, “Know that actions AACIS may take against an animal control officer’s certification include a written reprimand, probation for up to 2 years, suspension for up to 2 years, or revocation of certification.”