Sources

Where this comes from

Guide pages name a source under most answers; each location page lists its sources at the end. The sources used are listed here with the date each was read.

What the pages are built from

The pages are written from two research files, both compiled on 1 October 2026. The first is a source ledger: the Georgia statutes, state rules, agency pages and federal rules this site relies on, each with the words quoted, the address it was read at and whether it was read on the issuing body's own site or on a named copy. The second is a routes table: what Georgia DOT and 18 cities and counties publish about a dead animal on a road and on private property, with the words from each page.

The rules we work to

• Government sources and named copies. Statutes, regulations, state agency pages, city and county pages, municipal codes, federal rules, federal agency guidance (CDC), 311 request catalogues on SeeClickFix, and PAWS Humane's city page for Columbus, because PAWS Humane runs that city's animal services. Never a directory, a competitor or a search-engine summary; search engines were used only to find addresses.
• Copies are named. Where the state's code site could not be read, statute and rule text came from a dated copy, such as the Department of Agriculture's hosted copy of Title 4 or a law-library mirror, and the copy is what the source line names.
• Scope is preserved. A rule about live nuisance animals is not written up as a rule about dead ones, a road service is not written up as a yard service, a hunter's rule is not written up as a homeowner's, and a county's policy is not attributed to the cities inside it.
• Absence is reported as absence. Where we searched and found nothing, such as a statewide deadline for a homeowner to remove a wild animal carcass or a licence for carcass-only work, the page says we found nothing, not that none exists.
• Fees appear only where a source states them. Each fee is 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.
• Unverifiable means omitted. A claim that could not be confirmed on the day is left out.

Things we deliberately do not say

Each of these came up during the research and was left out or bounded, because the evidence did not support the version that circulates:

• That Georgia law gives a homeowner a deadline to remove a wild animal carcass, or a statewide 3-foot burial depth for one. Those figures are in the Dead Animal Disposal Act, whose "dead animals" are livestock-type animals, so its 24-hour rule does bind a homeowner who keeps livestock or poultry. Some local codes set their own disposal limits, and unincorporated Cobb County and Augusta set their own 3-foot burial rules; each is attributed to its own city or county.
• That Georgia requires a licence or permit to remove dead animals, or that none is needed. DNR's Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator permit covers live nuisance wildlife, and we found no Georgia rule that specifically licenses dead-animal removal.
• That a public agency will collect a dead wild animal from your yard. We found no current public service that does. 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.
• How the 2025 deer disposal rule applies to a deer that died on its own in a yard. The rule speaks of the property on which the deer was killed, and we found no guidance. Ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661.
• That a whole deer can go in a household trash cart. DNR's line about bagging smaller parts is on a page for hunters, and each cart and hauler sets its own terms.
• That a dead raccoon, skunk or bat must be tested for rabies. The Department of Public Health's lab tests an animal after a person or a domestic animal was exposed.
• Whether a business may collect dead native birds for pay. We found no source that answers it.
• Rat and mouse removal, disinfecting or deodorising. Whether removing a dead rodent counts as licensed pest control in Georgia is a question the sources did not answer.
• That any agency endorses, lists or refers callers to this site or to any operator.
• Any number of days for a smell to clear.

Sources used

98 sources, each with the date it was read.

Corrections

Agencies revise pages, ordinances get amended, and service catalogs change with budgets. If something here no longer matches what an agency publishes, or if you work for one of them and we have described your service wrongly, tell us through the contact form, and it will be checked.

Nothing on this site is legal advice. Where a rule carries money or a legal obligation, confirm it with the agency directly.