Animal Control Workers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 38% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 62% of the time, stays with people.
Handle animals for the purpose of investigations of mistreatment, or control of abandoned, dangerous, or unattended animals.
12,070 people do this job in the US. $45,660 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on15 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people25 h
Animal Control Workers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 15 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 25 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Educate the public about animal welfare, and animal control laws and regulations (about 6 h); Write reports of activities, and maintain files of impoundments and dispositions of animals (about 4 h); Organize the adoption of unclaimed animals (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 38%
- 0%
- 62%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 37%. Today's estimate: 38%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: none to 0.0051% (released February and March 2025); 0.0081% to 0.036% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0051% | 577 of 703 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0081% | 476 of 655 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.016% | 419 of 672 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.036% | 301 of 677 | 1 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 66% of this job's working time as physical work. For 18% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 18% in a purpose-built cell. 0.17 of 3, the 461st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 34%
- No robot shown 49%
- In a purpose-built cell 18%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investigate reports of animal attacks or animal cruelty, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and writing reports.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 20% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Educate the public about animal welfare, and animal control laws and regulations.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 16% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Write reports of activities, and maintain files of impoundments and dispositions of animals.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 11% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Clean facilities and equipment such as dog pens and animal control trucks.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, InterClean biosecurity truck wash and trailer washout systems (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 42 min21 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine animal licenses, and inspect establishments housing animals for compliance with laws.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare for prosecutions related to animal treatment, and give evidence in court.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Capture and remove stray, uncontrolled, or abused animals from undesirable conditions, using nets, nooses, or tranquilizer darts as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Supply animals with food, water, and personal care.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Förster-Technik CalfRail / CalfRail DUO (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Organize the adoption of unclaimed animals.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Issue warnings or citations in connection with animal-related offenses, or contact police to report violations and request arrests.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Answer inquiries from the public concerning animal control operations.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Examine animals for injuries or malnutrition, and arrange for any necessary medical treatment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 29 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Animal Control Workers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 38% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 38% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Animal Control Workers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Educate the public about animal welfare, and animal control laws and regulations (100% of the task's time now); Write reports of activities, and maintain files of impoundments and dispositions of animals (100% of the task's time now); and Organize the adoption of unclaimed animals (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Animal Control Workers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Investigate reports of animal attacks or animal cruelty, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and writing reports; Clean facilities and equipment such as dog pens and animal control trucks; and Examine animal licenses, and inspect establishments housing animals for compliance with laws. Together such tasks are about 62% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Animal Control Workers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Animal Control Workers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 66% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 18% of the working time. Its index is 0.17 of 3. One example: InterClean biosecurity truck wash and trailer washout systems for "clean facilities and equipment such as dog pens and animal control trucks". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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