Metro Atlanta

Dead Animal Removal in DeKalb County, Georgia

DeKalb County Sanitation collects dead animals from streets and county rights-of-way, and DeKalb's Solid Waste Management page labels the service “Roadkill only.” We found no county collection of a dead wild animal from yards, decks or crawl spaces, and county code says dead animals other than dogs and house pets will not be collected. For a dead pet, residents can take it to the county's Animal Crematory for a disposal fee.

If the animal is on your property in DeKalb, calls to this number reach this site's routing line, which passes them to an independent operator where one covers the area.

On a road, street or public land

DeKalb Sanitation collects dead animals on streets and county rights-of-way. The Bulky Items and Special Collections page says it in one line, “Dead animals are collected on county rights of way and roads,” and adds “Collection will occur within 48 hours of the service request date.” Requests go to 404-294-2900 or solidwaste@dekalbcountyga.gov. The Solid Waste Management page narrows the scope with two words, “Roadkill only.” For an interstate or state highway in the county, state law, O.C.G.A. 4-5-4, makes it GDOT's duty to remove and dispose of dead animals within the rights of way of highways maintained wholly or partly with state funds. We found no DeKalb page that prints a GDOT number, and no dead-animal page on GDOT's own website.

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

We found no DeKalb County collection of a dead wild animal from private property. The live page limits collection to roadkill on streets and county rights-of-way, and code section 22-30, carried from the 1976 code, says “Dead animals (other than dogs and house pets) will not be collected.” A wild animal in the yard falls outside both. You can bag it and dispose of it yourself, or have a private removal service do it. We found no statewide Georgia rule that sets a deadline for a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass. The 24-hour disposal rule people quote comes from the Dead Animal Disposal Act, which defines “dead animals” as livestock, animals from pet and kennel businesses regulated by the Department of Agriculture, commercially processed animals and wildlife-exhibition animals. A wild animal that dies in your yard is not on that list. See a dead animal in the yard.

A dead wild animal under a deck or in a crawl space sits outside both county sources, and we found no DeKalb service for one. The same goes for an animal in the garage or attic. A private call fits these cases when the animal can be reached without opening anything up. A smell from inside a sealed wall is a separate problem, explained in our article on a dead animal smell in a wall; the calls this site routes do not involve opening walls, ceilings or finished floors. See under a deck or in a crawl space and in an attic or garage.

A dead deer in DeKalb County

DeKalb collects a dead deer the way it collects any roadkill, from streets and county rights-of-way; in a yard, we found no county pickup. For animals over 100 pounds, the Sanitation page lets the resident haul it to the Seminole Road Landfill at 4203 Clevemont Road, Ellenwood, for a “$200 base charge for securing/preparing the burial hole PLUS landfill gate rate minimum charge of $16.50 or $99.80 per ton.” Georgia's deer disposal rule (391-4-2-.19, 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 permitted solid waste landfill, as well as a commercial deer processor, burial, incineration, rendering and composting. For a deer that died on its own in a yard, we found no guidance; ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661. See dead deer removal.

Trash, landfill and burial

DeKalb's collection code, section 22-30, says dead animals other than dogs and house pets will not be collected, so ask Sanitation before using your cart. At state level we found no EPD or DNR text banning a small carcass from household garbage. The county's own drop-off points are the Seminole Road Landfill for animals over 100 pounds (above) and the Animal Crematory for pets (below). Dumping a carcass on another person's land, on public land or in water is littering under O.C.G.A. 16-7-43, unless the owner or tenant of that property consents.

A dead pet is a different case

DeKalb's live Sanitation page lists pet disposal as a drop-off: the Animal Crematory at 810 Camp Road, Decatur, GA 30032, with a “$28.80 disposal fee” for DeKalb residents, and animals must be double-bagged. That fee belongs to the crematory's pet service. The Sanitation page lists it for pet disposal, and code section 22-30 says dead animals other than dogs and house pets will not be collected.

What DeKalb's pages and code say

DeKalb's dead-animal rules sit in two places, and neither offers to collect a dead wild animal from private property; the 1976 code text excludes everything but dogs and house pets, while the live page collects roadkill. Public Works' Solid Waste Management page lists the service as “Roadkill only.” The Sanitation division's Bulky Items and Special Collections page adds the 48-hour collection window, the crematory and the landfill option. County code section 22-30(b)(3), in the solid-waste chapter, comes from the 1976 code and is current through Supplement 72 (December 16, 2025). It excludes dead animals other than dogs and house pets from collection, and it still describes a fee-based curbside pickup for bagged dead dogs and house pets. The live Sanitation pages describe pet disposal differently, as crematory or landfill drop-off and collection from animal hospitals, so this page describes the crematory and not a curbside pet pickup. Ask Sanitation whether a curbside pet collection is still offered. This page describes DeKalb County's own service. If your address is inside a city in DeKalb, check with that city as well; we did not read city pages here.

Pages for the animal or the place you found it

Nearby areas

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