Dead Animal Removal in Mississippi: Questions and Answers
31 answers from Mississippi codes, state agency pages and federal rules, plus how this site works: whose job a dead animal is, what the local rules allow, what can be reached without cutting, and when to call the State Department of Health.
Start here
What does this site do?
It is an advertising and referral service. Calls reach this site's routing line and forms come to the site; either may be passed to an independent operator if one is available. The site itself does not handle or move any animal, and whether an operator serves your address is settled on the call.
Who removes a dead animal on a state highway?
Lafayette County's website says the Mississippi Department of Transportation handles dead animals in the roadway and gives (601) 359-7001; Olive Branch's website lists 1-866-521-MDOT (6368) for state-maintained roads. City streets and county roads belong to the city or county.
Will my city pick up a dead animal?
Some city codes set out a route. Southaven's offers a pickup from residences at a minimum charge of $25 per animal, paid in advance; Jackson's sends dead animals to animal control by special pickup on call; Hattiesburg's sanitation department removes them from the rights-of-way of city roads. The location pages give each city's wording.
What does removal cost?
Independent operators set their own prices, so the price is agreed on the call. This site publishes no removal prices. Where a government charges a fee, it appears here only as the government's own code states it.
Can an operator reach an animal under the house or in the attic?
An operator can remove a carcass that can be reached through an existing opening, such as a crawl-space hatch, an attic access or the open side of a deck, without cutting finished walls, ceilings or floors.
What if there is a smell in a wall and no animal in sight?
An odour from inside a sealed wall is covered on this site as information only. How long a smell lasts depends on the animal's size, temperature, humidity, airflow and location. This site's article on a dead animal smell in a wall explains what can and cannot be reached.
What about a dead deer?
MDWFP's rule makes it unlawful to transport any portion of a cervid (deer) carcass outside a CWD Management Zone (40 Miss. Admin. Code Part 2, Rule 2.7). The MDWFP pages we reviewed do not say how that applies to a deer found dead on private property; in a zone county, ask MDWFP at 1-800-BE-SMART before a carcass leaves the zone. For 2026-2027 the zones are North Mississippi, Issaquena and Harrison; the deer guide on this site lists the counties MDWFP names.
Is it safe to pick up a dead animal myself?
The Mississippi State Department of Health advises against handling or touching live or dead wild animals that can carry rabies, such as raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes and coyotes. If someone may have been exposed, call its Office of Epidemiology at 601-576-7725.
Private property, roads and the state
Whose job is a dead animal on private property?
Start with the city or county, because some local routes reach homes. None of the city or county pages we reviewed mentions collecting from under a house or a crawl space; where they describe no route for the case, they do not say who removes it, and an owner can arrange removal personally or hire someone.
Does the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks collect dead animals?
The MDWFP pages we reviewed describe no collection service. MDWFP asks for reports of deer found emaciated, lame or immobile, or dead with no obvious cause of death, and says it cannot pick up injured wildlife, except some threatened or endangered species.
Does my county pick up dead animals?
Counties differ. Madison County's Road Department lists dead animals among the items its debris pickup will not collect. DeSoto County sends large dead animals and deer blocking roads in unincorporated areas to Road Management at 662-469-8025. The Rankin, Hinds and Harrison county pages we reviewed do not describe a route either way.
Who handles a dead animal on a city street?
City streets belong to the city. Hattiesburg's code makes removal from the rights-of-way of city-maintained roads the sanitation department's duty; Biloxi's and Jackson's dead-animal sections are not limited to streets.
What about a dead pet?
Olive Branch's code provides an animal control pickup of a dead dog or cat from a residence, at the owner's request, for $25, and Jackson's lets a resident bury a pet on their own property at least four feet deep after obtaining the written consent of the superintendent of animal control.
Is this site part of a government agency?
No. It is a private advertising and referral service. Government routes described here are quoted from the code or website named with each one, with the date each was read listed on the sources page.
Deadlines, the trash cart, burial and deer
Is there a deadline for getting rid of a dead animal?
There is no statewide deadline in the sources we reviewed. Some cities set their own: Vicksburg's code makes it unlawful to let a dead animal remain on one's premises for more than six hours after its death, and Hattiesburg's and Biloxi's set 12 hours.
Can a dead animal go in the garbage cart?
It depends on the city. Jackson's and Biloxi's codes bar dead animals from garbage containers; Gulfport's and Hattiesburg's describe small dead animals being stored in covered containers until collected; Madison County's contractor will not accept dead animals over 10 pounds.
Is there a statewide rule on burying a dead animal?
Not for pets or wildlife in the sources we reviewed. The Board of Animal Health's burial rule is written for livestock. Some cities set depths: Jackson four feet for a pet (with the written consent of the superintendent of animal control), Hattiesburg three to eight feet, Oxford at least two feet for animals other than large ones.
Do Mississippi landfills take dead animals?
MDEQ's list of active solid waste facilities does not say which sites take carcasses. Where a carcass can go depends on the animal and on what the local landfill or waste service accepts, so ask before taking one in.
Is it illegal to dump a dead animal?
Mississippi law makes it a misdemeanor to dump dead wildlife on streets, roads, highways or their rights-of-way, in public waters, or on private property without the owner's permission (Miss. Code §97-15-32, as reproduced in the Legislature's 2026 bill text).
Which counties are in a CWD Management Zone?
For 2026-2027, the North Mississippi zone covers all of Alcorn, Benton, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Prentiss, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo and Union counties and parts of Coahoma, Pontotoc, Quitman and Tunica. There is also the Issaquena zone, which MDWFP's list describes as parts of Issaquena County and all portions of Warren and Claiborne counties, and the Harrison zone in west Harrison and east Hancock counties. Check MDWFP's current map for exact boundaries.
Walls, smells and what can be reached
Can a dead animal in a crawl space be removed?
If it can be reached through the crawl-space opening, yes. An operator removes a carcass that can be reached through an existing opening, without cutting finished walls, ceilings or floors.
Will anyone cut into a wall to reach a smell?
Not through this site. A smell from inside a sealed wall is covered as information only, and operators work through existing openings. This site's wall-smell article sets out what can be checked.
How long does the smell of a dead animal last?
It depends on the animal's size, temperature, humidity, airflow and location. A small animal in a cool, airy space and a larger one in a warm, closed space are very different cases, which is why no single figure fits.
What if I can smell it but cannot find it?
Check the spaces that can be reached: the crawl space, the attic, under decks and porches, and behind stored items. If the source turns out to be inside a sealed wall, that part is information only on this site.
What should I have ready when I call?
What the animal is, if you know; where it is lying; how anyone would get to it; and the town or county you are in, so it is clear whether an operator covers the address.
Rabies, bats and birds
Which animals can carry rabies?
The Mississippi State Department of Health lists raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes and coyotes among wild animals that can carry rabies, and advises against handling or touching them, live or dead.
What should I do about a dead bat?
The Department of Health says not to handle live bats or bats that seem to be dead, and that any bat that may have had contact with a person or pet should be tested for rabies. Call its Office of Epidemiology at 601-576-7725.
What do I do with a single dead bird?
The Board of Animal Health's bird-flu FAQ advises not touching it with bare hands, double-bagging it and putting it in household garbage, or burying it. It says an occasional dead bird is normal.
When should dead birds be reported?
The Board of Animal Health asks that five or more dead wild waterfowl, shorebirds or raptors in one place be reported, to USDA Wildlife Services at 662-325-3014 or through its online form.
Has bird flu been found in Mississippi?
The Board of Animal Health's latest update, dated February 4, 2026, reported highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial poultry flock in Amite County. The Department of Health reported no human cases as of August 2026.
Are vultures protected?
Yes. Black and turkey vultures are federally protected migratory birds (50 CFR §10.13). Federal rules let any person salvage a migratory bird found dead and require disposal within 7 calendar days, with separate rules for eagles and listed species. How Mississippi's possession rules apply to collecting a bird that is already dead is not addressed in the sources we reviewed.
Whose job is it, then?
If it is on a road, start with the agency that maintains it. If it is on your own property, say what the animal is, where it is lying and how it can be reached.