Dead Animal Removal in Georgia: Questions and Answers

No. Georgia Dead Animal Removal is a statewide publisher. It sells advertising and passes inquiries to independent operators where one covers the address: calls through this site's routing line, forms by ZIP. It employs no field staff and removes no animals itself.

We found no current public service that collects a dead wild animal from a yard. Columbus's code still lets city crews enter private property at the owner's or occupant's request, at the chief's discretion, but we found no current Columbus page offering it. Atlanta collects at the curb once you carry the animal there. Athens-Clarke's Dead Animal Pickup Request page asks the same and states no size rule. Its FAQ 279 calls an animal off the street or right of way the resident's responsibility, and FAQ 142 limits collection to animals the size of an armadillo, raccoon or opossum or larger and points private property to a wildlife removal company or the ACC Landfill (fees apply). From private property, Gwinnett takes only small carcasses, bagged and set roadside.

We found no statewide rule that requires a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass or sets a deadline for doing so. The 24-hour rule people quote is from the Dead Animal Disposal Act, which covers livestock-type animals; it does bind a homeowner who keeps livestock or poultry. Some local codes set their own limits, and none is statewide. In Sandy Springs and Johns Creek, a dead animal may not remain on your premises beyond 24 hours without being disposed of or properly removed. Unincorporated Forsyth County sets 24 hours from death, for the animal's owner, agent or custodian. Unincorporated Cobb County's section 10-7(c) sets 12 hours for burial or incineration in a county approved incinerator, unless the carcass is properly refrigerated or frozen; the section's abandonment rule is written around a person who owns or cares for the animal, and we found no county page on how it applies to a wild animal that dies on your lot. Augusta's section 4-1-26(f) sets 12 hours after death or discovery. The section's duties are written around a person who owns or is caring for the animal and 'the owner of any dead animal carcass', and we found no city page explaining how it applies to a wild animal that dies on your lot.

Georgia law gives GDOT the carcasses within the rights of way of state-funded highways. We found no GDOT dead-animal line; some cities and counties print a GDOT number, and Atlanta's ATL311 article prints GDOT at 404-635-6800 for the interstate, or 911 if it is a traffic hazard. On a county road or city street, report it to the government that maintains the road, where it publishes a channel, for example ATL311 in Atlanta or Roads and Bridges in Forsyth County; some limit what they take (Henry's request pages list deer, dogs and cats only, though its code (3-4-8) makes dead animals in county-road rights of way a county duty (both read 2026-10-01); Cherokee Public Works: deer or large dogs in the roadway).

This site does not set or publish prices. Independent operators set their own prices, and availability and price are settled on the call.

From Georgia's Dead Animal Disposal Act (O.C.G.A. 4-5-5) and the Department of Agriculture's rule, which apply to livestock, animals tied to pet businesses the Department licenses, commercially processed animals and wildlife-exhibition animals. A wild animal that dies on your property is not on that list, and we found no statewide depth for burying one in your own yard. Some local codes set their own: unincorporated Cobb County's section 10-7 calls for not less than three feet of earth over a buried carcass, and Augusta's 4-1-26 for burial at least three feet below ground.

The DNR guidance we read says it is generally best to bury it. Georgia DNR says to avoid handling dead birds. If you must dispose of one, it says to wear disposable gloves or use an inverted plastic bag, and that it is generally best to bury it at a depth where it cannot be dug up.

That depends on the hauler and the local code. We found no EPD or DNR text banning a small dead animal from household garbage. Cobb County's code says collectors are not required to collect dead animals, Gwinnett's lists dead animals over ten pounds as unacceptable waste for its haulers, and Macon-Bibb's bars dead animals from garbage containers. Ask before you bag it.

DNR lists a permitted solid waste landfill among proper deer disposal methods, and each landfill sets its own terms. The Athens-Clarke County Landfill lists animal carcasses, including deer, at a $20 minimum and asks for a call first for larger ones. Augusta's landfill asks for a call before large carcasses arrive, and Clayton County's code bars dead animals from its landfill without special permission.

Only within the littering law's exceptions. Georgia's littering law counts discarded dead animals as litter and makes leaving litter on public or private property a misdemeanor, unless the person is the owner or tenant in lawful possession of the property, has the owner's or tenant's consent, or acts under their personal direction, all 'in a manner consistent with the public welfare.' EPD's solid-waste rules separately bar open dumping, and a deer carcass falls under the statewide deer rule.

We give no medical or veterinary advice. Georgia DPH names raccoons, skunks and foxes as the most common land wildlife infected with rabies in Georgia, and the state lab tests an animal only after a person or domestic animal was exposed. If someone was bitten, DPH says to report it to the county health department or 1-866-PUB-HLTH (1-866-782-4584). For contact by your dog, ask the county health department what to do with the carcass; the Georgia Poison Center also gives rabies consultations to veterinarians and the general public at 404-616-9000.

Georgia DPH says that waking to find a bat in the room, or finding one in an unattended child's room, are situations where a bite cannot be ruled out, and medical advice should be sought. DPH says it is best never to handle any bat, and that a bat should be submitted for testing, if available, when a person or pet was exposed. Ask the county health department what to do with the bat; the Georgia Poison Center (404-616-9000) also gives rabies consultations to the public. Georgia lists three bat species as protected.

Georgia DPH's rabies manual says opossums have a lower body temperature that is not conducive to rabies infection, so bites and scratches from opossums are generally not considered a rabies risk; the manual treats them case by case. If someone was bitten, DPH says to report it to the county health department or 1-866-PUB-HLTH (1-866-782-4584).

Georgia DPH says hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is caused by several hantaviruses, which can be carried by certain mice and rats, that most cases occur west of the Mississippi River, and that the disease is not endemic in Georgia. For cleanup, CDC advises gloves, disinfecting the rodent and the area around it, double-bagging the carcass, and a covered garbage can that is emptied regularly.

DNR's deer fact sheet asks for a call to a biologist about a dead deer in or near a stream, lake or pond with no apparent injuries, at 1-800-366-2661. DNR also takes sick or dead wildlife reports through an online form. Both are reporting channels for DNR; neither is a pickup service.

DNR's avian influenza page says not to handle wild birds that are obviously sick or found dead. It asks for reports of multiple dead vultures, crows, waterfowl, waterbirds or shorebirds in one place, and of any dead or sick bird of prey, at 1-800-366-2661 or through its online form. For one dead bird, Georgia DNR says that if you must dispose of it, wear disposable gloves or use an inverted plastic bag, and that it is generally best to bury it at a depth where it cannot be dug up.