Metro Atlanta

Dead Animal Removal in North Fulton, Georgia

This page covers four North Fulton cities, and each has its own rules. Alpharetta and Johns Creek take reports of a dead animal in the roadway. Sandy Springs and Johns Creek codes say a dead animal may not remain on your premises beyond 24 hours without being disposed of or properly removed, and Roswell's code classes dead animals as “other waste” for the household to dispose of. In none of the four did we find a city pickup of a dead wild animal from a yard.

Calls about an animal on private property in Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta or Johns Creek reach this site's routing line, which passes them to an independent operator where one covers the area.

Covers: Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek (each city's rules are listed separately)

On a road, street or public land

In Johns Creek, the Public Works FAQ sends roadway dead-animal reports to City Hall, 678-512-3200, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or to a Service Request. In Alpharetta, the “Report an Issue” link on the Public Works page opens the city's SeeClickFix portal, where the matching request type is “Debris / Animal in Roadway,” and it asks you to “Please state type of debris or animal.” We found no dead-animal page for Sandy Springs; its Call Center, which the city says is available 24 hours a day, takes service requests at 770-730-5600. In Roswell we found no road channel. On interstates and state routes, state law, O.C.G.A. 4-5-4, gives GDOT the duty for dead animals within the rights of way of state-funded highways; none of the four cities' pages we read prints a GDOT number.

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

We found no city pickup of a dead wild animal from private property in any of the four. Sandy Springs code section 10-9 and Johns Creek code section 34-175 use the same sentence: no person shall “allow any dead animal to remain upon his premises ... without disposing of same or causing the animal to be properly removed or disposed of within 24 hours.” Those rules are city law in those two cities. Roswell's code defines “other waste” to include “carcasses in whole or in part and dead animals” and says it “shall be disposed of by persons in charge of the residence or establishment where such wastes are generated.” In Alpharetta we found no dead-animal collection clause in the city code, only a litter definition. We found no statewide Georgia rule that sets a deadline for a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass; these 24-hour disposal limits come from the two city codes.

We found no service in any of the four cities for an animal under a deck, in a crawl space, in the garage or in an attic. This number is for those calls, where the animal can be reached without opening a wall, ceiling or finished floor. A smell from inside a closed wall is covered as information in our article on a dead animal smell in a wall; the calls this site routes do not involve opening walls. See under a deck or in a crawl space and in an attic or garage.

A dead deer in North Fulton

We found no deer rule in any of the four cities. A deer on a Johns Creek road is reported to City Hall like any other roadway animal, and Alpharetta's roadway request covers “debris or animal” with no size limit stated. Georgia's deer rule applies in all four: since June 25, 2025, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-4-2-.19 has made 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. We found no guidance on how it applies to a deer that dies on its own in a yard; ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661. See dead deer removal.

Trash, landfill and burial

Johns Creek says “the city of Johns Creek does not provide garbage collection services for residents,” and residents “must contract with private collection services for garbage pickup.” Its code's garbage definition includes “small dead animals not exceeding five pounds in weight,” but a definition is no promise that a hauler will take one, so ask yours. Sandy Springs' solid-waste code defines “dead animals” as animals or portions “equal to or greater than ten pounds in weight”; we found no city collection tied to that definition. Roswell's code says the household disposes of “other waste,” which includes dead animals, “at the disposal facility designated by the city or as authorized by the environmental/public works director or his/her designee.” We found no dead-animal trash rule for Alpharetta.

Four cities, four positions

Roswell's animal-control FAQ says “Fulton County Animal Services provides domestic animal control services for the City of Roswell” and lists (404) 613-0358. It also says “Wildlife control is handled by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources” and lists (770) 918-6408. That is a referral for live wildlife problems; we found nothing saying DNR collects carcasses in Roswell. Johns Creek's police FAQ lists Fulton County Animal Services at 404-613-0358 for loose, hurt or endangered animals. In Sandy Springs, the only dead-animal work we found in the city's own documents is a 2021 Public Works weekly report. It logged “Dead animal removal at Roswell Road and Morgan Falls Road” on 9/29/21 and listed “4 - Dead Animal” under Field Services. The Sandy Springs and Johns Creek 24-hour disposal limits are city code in those two cities only.

Pages for the animal or the place you found it

Nearby areas

• Forsyth CountyMetro Atlanta
• Cherokee CountyMetro Atlanta
• Gwinnett CountyMetro Atlanta