"Animal Control" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American mockumentary comedy horror television series What We Do in the Shadows, set in the franchise of the same name.
In the episode, Laszlo is accidentally caught as a bat by animal control and taken to a shelter, forcing Nandor, Colin Robinson and Guillermo to release him.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.320 million household viewers and gained a 0.13 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) witness the event and go to Phil's house, only to discover that animal control has taken Laszlo to a shelter.
In March 2019, FX confirmed that the fifth episode of the season would be titled "Animal Control", and that it would be written by Duncan Sarkies, and directed by Jackie van Beek.
Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "After the events of this week's What We Do In The Shadows, I can only assume that once the vampires succeed in taking over Staten Island, the employees of the municipal Animal Control department will be paraded through the streets in shirts made of cat hair as they're pelted with feces by passers-by, before they're corralled into a giant blender and whipped up into a human smoothie upon which all the creatures of the night can feast.
How else to repay the indignity visited upon Laszlo this episode, after gluttony for blood leads him on an adventure that ends with him running down the street while under attack from half a dozen yowling, scratching cats?
"[5] Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "After the running display of vampire clichés feeding the show, this is something to look forward to.
There's a great array of jokes here too, playing on the tropes inherent with the series, complete with fourth wall breaks and the continued mockumentary style.