West Georgia

Dead Animal Removal in Columbus, Georgia

Columbus city code says collection crews may enter private property, houses and other structures at the owner's or occupant's request, at the chief's discretion, to remove dead animals. We found no current city page offering that service, and no official page we could read on 2026-10-01 says who collects a dead animal from a city street. Ask the city before you count on either.

One Georgia number. Calls reach this site's routing line, which passes them to an independent operator where one covers the area; we remove nothing ourselves and cannot promise that an operator covers Columbus.

On a road, street or public land

We could not confirm who removes a dead animal from a Columbus street. The Public Works FAQ rules out one crew: "Community Service Division does not pick up dead animals, small pieces of glass and/or anything smaller than a cigarette butt." That division "only picks up trash or litter from the city right of way." Animal services moved to PAWS Humane Society on February 1, 2025, and PAWS's city-information page lists Animal Services at 706-653-4512 during business hours without mentioning dead animals. We tried to read the city's 311 request list on 2026-10-01 and could not, so we cannot say whether it carries a dead-animal request. For an interstate, U.S. highway or state route, Georgia law gives the Department of Transportation the duty to remove dead animals within the rights of way of highways maintained wholly or partly with state funds (O.C.G.A. 4-5-4). We found no GDOT dead-animal line.

In a yard, under a deck or in a crawl space

Section 13-167.9(a) of the Columbus code reads: "Collection personnel of the consolidated government of Columbus, Georgia, may enter private property, houses, and other structures at the request of the owner or occupant for the purpose of removing dead animals." Section 13-167.12 repeats the permission and puts it "at the discretion of the chief or his assistant." We re-read both on Municode on 2026-10-01 (Supplement 75, through June 16, 2026), and the text is unchanged. What we could not find is the service itself. We found no live city page that offers it, takes a request for it or names a price. The word is "may", and the decision sits with the chief. Call the city and ask whether 13-167.9 is used today and what it costs before you count on it for a dead animal in a yard.

The code's permission reaches "houses, and other structures", so on paper a crawl space or an attic is within it. If you would rather not wait on an answer from the city, a private remover can take an animal you can reach without cutting into anything, under a deck, in a crawl space or in a garage. 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. A smell from inside a closed wall is covered on dead animal smell in a wall. Nothing arranged through this site involves opening drywall, plaster or a ceiling.

A dead deer in Columbus

Section 13-167.9(b) says: "A fee may be established by the city manager for the collection, removal, and disposal of large dead animals." We found no amount and no live service. For a deer on a city street, we could not confirm the city's route (see the road section above). Statewide, Georgia's deer carcass rule (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-4-2-.19), in force since June 25, 2025, 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. DNR describes proper deer carcass disposal as "now required across all of Georgia." The rule does not say how it applies to a deer that dies on its own in a yard, and we found no DNR guidance on that. Ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661. More on dead deer removal and a dead deer in your yard.

Trash, landfill and burial

Section 13-167.12 says garbage and refuse collection personnel are not permitted to enter any building to collect solid waste; the same section allows collection personnel, at the chief's discretion, to enter private property, houses and other structures on request to remove dead animals. None of the Columbus pages we read says whether a carcass can go in a household cart. Georgia EPD classes dead animals as putrescible solid waste, and acceptance is up to each hauler and landfill.

Columbus after the PAWS handover

Columbus moved animal services to PAWS Humane Society on February 1, 2025, according to the Public Works page. PAWS's city-information page now carries the Animal Services number, 706-653-4512, for business hours, and it sends wildlife concerns to Georgia DNR at 770-918-6408, a referral about live animals. Neither page says what happens to a dead animal on a street, and we found no other official page we could read that fills the gap. The code still describes city collection personnel entering private property and structures to remove dead animals on request, at the chief's discretion, with a possible fee for large animals. Two questions for Columbus 311 or Public Works would settle it. Who picks up a dead animal in the street? Is code 13-167.9 used today, and at what fee? Until the city answers those, this page treats the street route as unconfirmed and the private-property route as a code power with no published service behind it.

Pages for the animal or the place you found it

Nearby areas

• Macon-Bibb CountyMiddle Georgia
• AtlantaMetro Atlanta
• Henry CountyMetro Atlanta