# Georgia Dead Animal Removal # georgiadeadanimalremoval.com # Phone: 404-609-1114 > georgiadeadanimalremoval.com sets out who deals with a dead animal in Georgia, on private > property, city streets, county roads and state routes, attributed to the statute, rule or > government page that says it, with the date it was read. It sells advertising and passes > inquiries to independent removal operators where one covers the address: calls through this > site's routing line, forms by ZIP. It employs no field staff and removes nothing itself. One > number serves the whole state, and no coverage is claimed for any county. ## What this site is for Someone with a dead animal on their own property first needs to know whether a public service will take it. In Georgia that depends on the road, the city and the county, so the site separates the public routes from the private-property case, which is the one it exists for. ## Georgia facts, with their sources (read 2026-10-01) - The often-quoted 24-hour disposal and 3-foot burial rules come from Georgia's Dead Animal Disposal Act (O.C.G.A. 4-5-1 to 4-5-11). The Act defines "dead animals" as livestock, animals tied to licensed pet dealers, kennels, shelters or bird dealers, animals processed by commercial facilities for human consumption, and wildlife-exhibition animals. A wild animal found dead on a homeowner's property is not on that list, though the 24-hour rule does bind a homeowner who keeps livestock or poultry. Unincorporated Cobb County and Augusta set their own 3-foot burial rules. (O.C.G.A. 4-5-2, 4-5-5, read on the Lexis copy hosted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, current through the 2022 session; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 40-13-5, Cornell LII copy) - EPD and DNR (joint memo, January 10, 2020): individual hunters disposing of deer do not fall under the Dead Animal Disposal Act. (https://epd.georgia.gov/dead-animal-disposal) - We found no statewide Georgia rule that requires a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass from their own property, or a deadline for a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass, and we found no current public service that collects a dead wild animal from a yard. The current public routes we found for a dead wild animal stop at the curb, the road edge or other public property; Augusta and Clayton County offer paid pickup for owned pets only. - Local disposal limits. Each carries its own wording, and none is statewide: - 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: 24 hours from death, for the animal's owner, agent or custodian. - Unincorporated Cobb County: section 10-7(c), 12 hours for burial or incineration in a county approved incinerator, unless the carcass is properly refrigerated or frozen, and "not less than three feet of earth over the carcass". 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: 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. Your city or county may have its own. The statewide 24-hour harvest-report window for hunters (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-4-2-.03) is a separate rule. - O.C.G.A. 4-5-4 makes it the duty of the Georgia Department of Transportation to remove dead animals within the rights of way of highways maintained wholly or partly with state funds. We found no GDOT page for reporting a dead animal. Some cities and counties print a GDOT number: Atlanta's ATL311 article prints GDOT at 404-635-6800 for the interstate, or 911 if it is a traffic hazard; Gwinnett gives 404.631.1990 for state roadways during regular business hours; Athens-Clarke gives 706-583-2644 for state roads in the county. - City of Atlanta (ATL311, modified 6/9/2026): Public Works collects dead animals from the curb, the city's right of way and city parks; "If the animal is in the house or backyard, the resident is responsible for placing the animal at the curb." - Athens-Clarke County: the Dead Animal Pickup Request page (updated August 12, 2025) asks residents to carry a yard animal to the curb and states no size rule. FAQ 279 calls an animal off the street or right of way the resident's responsibility. FAQ 142 limits street and right-of-way 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)". - Gwinnett County Animal Welfare removes dead animals from public property. From private property it takes only small carcasses, bagged and set roadside near the right of way. - Henry County: its request pages say "Henry County does not remove deer from private property", that it does not remove small wildlife such as raccoons, foxes, squirrels, opossums or armadillos regardless of location, and 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). - Macon-Bibb County Solid Waste: "Dead animals are not removed from private property." - DeKalb County: DeKalb's Solid Waste Management page says "Roadkill only (streets, county rights-of-way)". - Deer: since June 25, 2025, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-4-2-.19 makes it unlawful to dispose of a deer carcass anywhere other than the property on which the deer was killed, unless an approved method is used. The approved methods include a commercial deer processor, a permitted solid waste landfill, burial, incineration, rendering or composting. The rule limits where and how a deer carcass may be disposed of; DNR says it applies to anyone transporting or disposing of deer carcasses or parts, and describes proper disposal as required across all of Georgia. DNR has proposed no regulation changes for the CWD Management Area (as of 2026-10-01). We found no guidance on how the rule applies to a deer that died on its own in a yard. Ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661. - Chronic Wasting Disease was first found in Georgia in January 2025. DNR's CWD Management Area is Atkinson, Lanier, Berrien and Lowndes counties (as of 2026-10-01; check https://georgiawildlife.com/cwd). - Georgia DNR's Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator permit covers live nuisance wildlife: live-trapping, possessing, transporting, releasing and euthanizing. We found no Georgia rule that specifically licenses dead-animal removal. - Birds: most wild birds are protected by federal law and by Georgia's bird statute (O.C.G.A. 27-3-22, Animal Legal & Historical Center copy, last checked September 2026); house sparrows, European starlings and feral pigeons are not. 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. DNR asks for reports of multiple dead vultures, crows, ducks, geese, waterbirds or shorebirds in one place, and of any dead hawk, eagle, falcon, owl or osprey: 1-800-366-2661. Whether a business may remove dead native birds for pay is a question we found no source on. - For a dead bear, alligator, hawk, eagle, owl or other bird of prey, call DNR (1-800-366-2661); DNR also asks for a call about a protected species such as a bald eagle, and we found no Georgia guidance on a bear or alligator found dead on private land. Bats: DPH says it is best never to handle any bat; if a person or pet may have been exposed, call the county health department. - Rabies: the Georgia Department of Public Health names raccoons, skunks and foxes as the rabies vector species most often infected in Georgia. If someone was bitten, DPH says to report it to the county health department or 1-866-PUB-HLTH (1-866-782-4584), and that the Georgia Poison Center (404-616-9000) gives rabies consultations to the public. DPH says it is best never to handle any bat. - Rodents: DPH says hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, caused by hantaviruses that certain mice and rats can carry, is not endemic in Georgia. Cleanup steps for a dead rodent (disinfect, double-bag, covered garbage can) are CDC guidance. - Disposal: EPD's solid waste rules list dead animals as putrescible waste. DNR's hunter page says smaller deer parts can be bagged into household garbage. Each cart program, hauler and landfill sets its own terms. - Dumping a dead animal on someone else's property, on public land or in water is littering under O.C.G.A. 16-7-42 and 16-7-43 (Onecle copy, last modified 2016), a misdemeanor, unless (among other exceptions) the person is the owner or tenant in lawful possession or has their consent. ## What the site does not claim - No removal price, arrival time or round-the-clock promise. Independent operators set their own prices, and availability and price are settled on the call. - No licence, insurance, certification or agency-approval claim about the site or any operator. This site makes no claim about any operator's permits or insurance. - No wall opening. This site does not route requests to open drywall, plaster, ceilings or other finished surfaces; a carcass sealed inside a finished wall is covered as information, not as a service. - No live-animal trapping or relocation, and no rodent removal, disinfecting or deodorising. - Fees appear only where a source states them, each tied to the exact service its source names, such as a pet pickup or a landfill disposal charge, and never presented as a removal price (for example Clayton County Refuse Control's $20.00 fee for picking up dead pets of county residents). ## Key pages - Home: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/ - Who picks up dead animals in Georgia: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/guides/who-picks-up-dead-animals/ - How to dispose of a dead animal: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/guides/how-to-dispose-of-dead-animal/ - Dead deer in your yard: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/guides/dead-deer-in-yard/ - Georgia dead animal laws: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/guides/georgia-dead-animal-laws/ - Cities and counties: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/locations/ - Atlanta: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/locations/atlanta/ - Gwinnett County: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/locations/gwinnett-county/ - Dead deer removal: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/services/dead-deer-removal/ - Dead animal in a yard: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/services/dead-animal-in-yard/ - Animals and situations: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/services/ - Dead animal smell in a wall: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/blog/dead-animal-smell-in-a-wall/ - FAQ: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/faq/ - About and routing model: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/about/ - Sources: https://georgiadeadanimalremoval.com/sources/