Dead Animal Removal in Wisconsin, by City
Nine Wisconsin metros. Each page quotes what that city's own agencies publish about a dead animal, or says outright that they publish nothing, then splits the answer between a city street, a state highway, a county trunk and private property, and gives an honest line on whether an independent operator's coverage is confirmed there. There is one line for the whole state, so no page here sends you off to look for a different number.
Every city page built on published policy, not on coverage
No independent operator's coverage is confirmed for any Wisconsin county yet, so every page below is a resource page. Each city publishes something about who handles a carcass on its streets, or publishes nothing and the page says which pages were reviewed. A caller from any of these counties reaches the same number and hears whether anyone is available for the address.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee publishes a curb-scope service, not a private-property one. The Department of Neighborhood Services says dead animals, including road kill, are picked up by DPW Sanitation 'either at the curb, in street or wrapped in plastic and placed in cart', reported through the Unified Call Center at (414) 286-CITY (2489). DPW Sanitation's own Recycling Directory narrows that to 'animals in the public right of way', and city code section 79-2-5 requires the department to collect small dead animals found in the public right-of-way. Whether it is free is not published. The word free appears on none of the city pages reviewed, no fee is stated either, and chapter 79 lets the commissioner collect offensive waste such as carcasses without charge, refuse it, or collect it for a charge. MADACC handles domestic animals only and removes no dead animals. WisDOT's contractor clears deer from Interstate, US and state highway shoulders in Milwaukee County; county trunk highways are the county's, and Milwaukee County publishes no dead-animal service on the pages reviewed. A carcass on private property, in a yard, under a deck or inside a structure, is the owner's to arrange, and any private-property work in Milwaukee would be performed by an independent operator, if one is available for the address.
Milwaukee page β Resource page Β· Dane CountyMadison, WI
Madison publishes no price for its pickup and no private-property service. City of Madison Engineering will pick up a dead animal from a city street or from the terrace in front of your property after 3 PM on weekdays, reported through Report a Problem or 608-266-4430, but its page never uses the word free and names no price. The same page says City crews cannot go onto private property and lists hiring a private company as one of three options, alongside moving the animal to the terrace or placing it in your trash container. Car-killed deer on local streets go to a separate City form and a WDNR contractor with a three-day window. Interstates, US and state highways in Dane County are WisDOT's car-killed-deer contractor, reported through 911 in the lane or the Dane County Sheriff otherwise, and the Dane County Highway and Transportation site publishes nothing about dead animals at all. A carcass in a yard, under a deck or in an attic is the owner's to arrange, and an independent operator would do that work if one is available for the address.
Madison page β Resource page Β· Brown CountyGreen Bay, WI
No Green Bay or Brown County page publishes a dead-animal pickup, free or paid, for any property class. On September 15, 2026 we reviewed the city's Animal Control, Public Works, Garbage, Street & Sign Maintenance, Bulk Household Items, Public Works FAQs and Parks pages, the GB Services request portal (17 categories, none for a dead animal) and the 2026 DPW Information Guide, plus the Brown County Highway, Sheriff and Resource Recovery pages, and found no service, no fee and no curb rule. What is published is the road split for deer carcasses in WisDOT's Highway Maintenance Manual 07-15-01: city streets are the city's, county trunk highways are the county's, and Interstates, US and state highways are cleared on the shoulder by WisDOT's Car-Killed Deer contractor. Green Bay Animal Control refers wild-animal callers to a wildlife removal service or pest control, and the DNR says a municipal pickup request for a dead deer on private land is not guaranteed. A carcass on private property is the owner's to arrange, and any private-property work would be performed by an independent operator, if one is available for the address.
Green Bay page β Resource page Β· Kenosha CountyKenosha, WI
Kenosha publishes one dead-animal service, and it is a street service. The Public Works Street Division takes reports of animal carcasses and road kill as street debris at 262-653-4070, weekdays 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and its page names no charge. Nothing on the Transportation page, the Waste & Recycling Collection and Drop Off pages, Kenosha Police Department Policy 3.1, or Kenosha County's Highways, Public Works and FAQ pages covers a carcass on private property, so a yard, deck or garage job is the owner's to arrange. Whether that costs anything depends on whether the owner does it (DNR's bury-or-double-bag route) or hires an independent operator, whose price is quoted on the call.
Kenosha page β Resource page Β· Racine CountyRacine, WI
Racine publishes one removal referral and it stops at the roadway: the Public Health Department's animals page sends an animal "domestic or wild, killed on the roadway" to City Customer Service at (262) 636-9171, weekdays 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and no page says whether that pickup is free or which crew does it. For a carcass anywhere else the same page tells the resident to handle it with a shovel and gloves, bag it and put it in the solid waste container. Racine County Public Works publishes no dead-animal policy at all, DNR says it does not have the resources to remove dead animals, and WisDOT's contractor takes deer on state highway shoulders only. Nothing published covers a yard, deck, crawl space or wall, so that job is the owner's to arrange, and an independent operator would do it, if one is available for the address.
Racine page β Resource page Β· Outagamie CountyAppleton, WI
Appleton's only dead-animal service sits in the municipal code, not on a web page. Sec. 15-33(i) commits the Department of Public Works to collect 'small dead animals' that the resident has already 'placed in a disposable bag,' inside the weekly curbside collection article, and the cost of that collection is billed to the property as a solid waste special charge under Sec. 15-37, and the code states no separate charge for a bagged animal. Nothing repeats the service on the Public Works FAQ, the Garbage page, the 2025-2026 Public Works Guide, the Public Works concern form or the city site search for 'dead animal.' Sec. 12-28(2) makes a carcass not buried or otherwise sanitarily disposed of within 24 hours a public health nuisance. WisDOT's contractor takes deer on the shoulders of I-41, US 10, WIS 441 and the other state highways once the Outagamie County Sheriff's Department has the report; the county owns its lettered trunk highways; city streets are Appleton's with no published channel. Nothing published covers a deer, an animal too large to bag, or a carcass under a deck, in a wall or in an attic; that work would be performed by an independent operator, if one is available for the address.
Appleton page β Resource page Β· Winnebago CountyOshkosh, WI
Oshkosh publishes one dead-animal service and it stops at the terrace. The Sanitation Division's Animal Remains Removal Request covers 'animal remains in public areas, road ways, terrace, etc.', and the police FAQ sends a dead animal in the roadway or terrace to the Street Department at (920) 236-5380. Neither page states a fee, so the service is listed here as a city service rather than a free one. No city, county or humane-society page covers a carcass on private property, and the police page says the department will not remove wild animals from residences, so a yard, deck or wall job is the owner's to arrange.
Oshkosh page β Resource page Β· Eau Claire CountyEau Claire, WI
Eau Claire publishes exactly one private-property answer and it is for deer: call Community Services at 715-839-4963 and the City retrieves the deer if it is on the boulevard; a deer that dies in the yard goes on a plastic tarp and is dragged to the boulevard, because the City will not go onto the property. The page never says whether that pickup is free, and it covers no other species. A carcass in a street or the right-of-way is a SeeClickFix Streets request. For a dead raccoon, skunk, squirrel or pet on private property, the city, the county and ECCHA publish nothing on the pages reviewed (Animal Control and its nine FAQs, Street | Fleet, Community Services, Trash Hauling, SeeClickFix, Parks & Trails, the full city FAQ base, the Title 6, 8 and 13 ordinances, the County Highway page and FAQs, County Solid Waste, and all 37 eccha.org pages), so that job is the owner's to arrange.
Eau Claire page β Resource page Β· La Crosse CountyLa Crosse, WI
La Crosse publishes no dead-animal pickup for private property, free or paid, and the word 'free' appears on none of the pages reviewed. The City's only instruction is an archived 311 Knowledge Base entry (the live page returned a 404 on September 15, 2026): small deceased wildlife is bagged into the resident's own garbage cart, wildlife on a city roadway is reported to the Street Department at (608) 789-7340, a carcass on a county highway goes to the County Highway Shop at (608) 786-3810, and a dog or cat found deceased on the street goes to Police Animal Control through dispatch at (608) 782-7575. The live pages reviewed, the 311 Report an Issue catalog, the Street Department Operations page, both Police Animal Control pages, the Refuse and Recycling Garbage Collection page, the City Sitemap, the La Crosse County Highway page and the County Solid Waste pages, carry no dead-animal service at all. On Interstates, US and state highways WisDOT's Car-Killed Deer contractor clears deer from the shoulder as a state service. A carcass in a yard, under a deck or inside a building is the property owner's to arrange, and an independent operator would do that work if one is available for the address.
La Crosse page βWhen there is no page for your city
Waukesha, Sheboygan, Wausau, Janesville and every other municipality sit under the same road-class split, which the road-class guide sets out in full: WisDOT's contractor on the shoulder of an Interstate, US or state highway, 911 for a carcass in the travel lane, the county highway department on a county trunk, and the town, village or city on its own streets. A city earns a page here only after someone has read its own pages and quoted what is on them, including the cities where that turns out to be nothing. No page here guesses at what a city probably does.
Not seeing your city?
Say what the animal is and what ground it is lying on. A public road gets you the agency that maintains it; your own lot gets you a straight answer on whether anyone is available for the address.