Dead Animal Removal in Oshkosh, WI
Who handles a dead animal in Oshkosh and Winnebago County, quoted from the agency's own page: a city street, a state highway, and the private-property case that is yours to arrange.
- Phone first
- Nothing is priced on this site
- Your ZIP decides
- Who, if anyone, can take it on
- Quoted on the call
- Once the job is known
- β Wisconsin statewide Β· one number
Who do I call for a dead animal in Oshkosh, WI?
What decides it is the road the animal is lying on, or the fact that it is not lying on one. On a public street, City of Oshkosh Public Works, Sanitation Division (Animal Remains Removal Request) and Street Department is the published contact: (920) 236-5380 (Street Department); (920) 232-5383 (Sanitation Division office, 639 Witzel Avenue). On an Interstate, US or state highway, WisDOT's car-killed deer contractor clears the shoulder; a carcass in the travel lane is a 911 call. On a county trunk highway it is the county highway department's. On private property, a yard, attic, deck or crawl space, it is the owner's to arrange; none of the Oshkosh pages we reviewed offers collection from private property. For private property in Oshkosh, Wisconsin Dead Animal Removal can talk through the situation and check whether an independent operator is available for a Winnebago County address: call (414) 928-2653. Nothing here guarantees availability, and any price is quoted on that call.
Is dead animal removal free in Oshkosh?
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. Anything on private property is the owner's responsibility; whether an independent operator is available for a Winnebago County address is decided on the call.
| Where the animal is | Who is responsible | Phone | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public street or city property | City of Oshkosh Public Works, Sanitation Division (Animal Remains Removal Request) and Street Department | (920) 236-5380 (Street Department); (920) 232-5383 (Sanitation Division office, 639 Witzel Avenue) | City service |
| Interstate, US or state highway | Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), Highway Maintenance Manual 07-15-01 'Carcass Removal' (July 2025) and the Car-Killed Deer page | 911 in the lane; county highway department or sheriff otherwise (no WisDOT hotline) | State service |
| County trunk highway | Winnebago County Highway Department | 920-232-1700 (Oshkosh shop) or 920-727-8640 (Neenah shop), weekdays 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Not published; the department page states no carcass service at all |
| Private property: yard, deck, attic, crawl space | The owner arranges it; an independent operator if one is available for the address | (414) 928-2653 | Depends on operator availability; quoted on the call |
βUse this form to notify the Sanitation Dept. of animal remains in public areas, road ways, terrace, etc.β
βWhat do I do if there is a dead animal in the roadway or terrace that needs to be removed? Contact the City of Oshkosh Street Department at (920) 236-5380.β
βOshkosh Police Department will NOT remove wild animals from residences; a private pest control service should be contacted.β
βCounties and municipalities are responsible for disposal of deer along county highways and local roads, respectively.β
βThe Deer Carcass Disposal Program is open to Winnebago County residents who process their own deer and transport the carcasses to 100 W County Road Y, Oshkosh, during operational hours, Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm or Saturday 7 am to noon.β
βWe also assist the public or police departments when they find a deceased cat or dog by taking the animal in and coordinating cremation for them; in 2025 we performed this service for 64 animals (45 cats, 16 dogs, 2 rabbits and 1 small animal)β
Quoted verbatim on 2026-09-15 from City of Oshkosh Sanitation Division's Animal Remains Removal Request (OpenGov record type 6532, read through the portal's public JSON API), the Oshkosh Police Department 'Report a Stray Animal/Animal at Large' FAQ, the city's Sanitation, Garbage and Recycling Collection Guidelines, Garbage and Recycling FAQ, Streets, Public Works, Online Services and Park Rules pages, the Winnebago County Highway, Solid Waste and Deer Carcass Disposal Program pages and 2026 tipping fee schedule, the Oshkosh Area Humane Society FAQ and Lost/Found Pet pages, the WisDOT Car-Killed Deer page and Highway Maintenance Manual 07-15-01, and DNR's wildlife health and carcass pages.
What the pages do not say: Whether the city will ever enter private residential property; whether any fee exists; whether a resident may place a carcass at the terrace for collection; whether Sanitation or the Street Department performs the pickup (two city sources name different divisions); response time and after-hours coverage; species or size limits; whether a dead pet or wild animal may go in the black cart (the Collection Guidelines and FAQs never mention carcasses, and the 2026 Garbage and Recycling Guide and the municipal code could not be opened); whether road-killed or yard-found deer are accepted under the county's Deer Carcass Disposal Program; the Winnebago County Highway Department's reporting channel for a carcass; the name of WisDOT's car-killed deer contractor for Winnebago County; whether OAHS will travel to collect a deceased pet or charges for intake; whether an independent operator currently covers Winnebago County.
Who not to call: Oshkosh Police Department for a wild animal at a home: its page says 'Oshkosh Police Department will NOT remove wild animals from residences; a private pest control service should be contacted' (the sentence sits under the injured or sick wildlife question, and whether it reaches dead wildlife is not stated). For a dead animal in the roadway or terrace the same page points to the Street Department, (920) 236-5380.; Wisconsin DNR Oshkosh service center, (920) 424-3050, or the DNR 24-hour line, (888) 936-7463, for a carcass: the city's referral to them is for injured or sick wild animals, and DNR's own page says that in most cases the department does not have the resources to remove dead animals, including deer.; Oshkosh Area Humane Society for a wild-animal carcass or a yard visit: its published deceased-animal help is 'taking the animal in' when someone finds a dead cat or dog and coordinating cremation, an intake at the shelter, not a field pickup..
A live, injured or sick wild animal is a different call. The Oshkosh Police Department FAQ sends it to the Wisconsin DNR Oshkosh service center at (920) 424-3050 during business hours and to the DNR 24-hour line at (888) 936-7463 after hours, and says a wild animal at a residence is a private pest control matter. None of those numbers is a carcass channel.
For the statewide version of this breakdown, see our guide to who picks up dead animals in Wisconsin.
Why Oshkosh gets the dead-animal calls it does
Oshkosh sits where the Fox River leaves Lake Butte des Morts and empties into Lake Winnebago, so water frames the city and cuts it in half. The oldest housing is the lumber-era frame stock in the Near East Neighborhood, around Menominee Park and Millers Bay, along the Algoma Boulevard historic district and on the South Side off Oregon Street and Sixth Avenue, where 1890s to 1920s two-story houses with open porches and old foundations give raccoons, skunks and opossums room to den and die. Post-war ranches fill the west side toward Koeller Street and I-41, and newer subdivisions push out along WIS 21 toward Omro and along the county letter routes south toward Black Wolf and Fisk. Deer move along the Lake Butte des Morts shoreline, the Sawyer Creek corridor, the Fox River marshes west of town and the farmland edge south of Wittman airport, and cross I-41, US 45, WIS 44 and County Y in the October to December rut. A carcass on one of those lots has no published city pickup and is the owner's to arrange.
Oshkosh publishes one dead-animal intake and it is bounded to public ground. The Sanitation Division's Animal Remains Removal Request on the city's OpenGov portal says 'Use this form to notify the Sanitation Dept. of animal remains in public areas, road ways, terrace, etc.', and the Oshkosh Police Department FAQ answers 'What do I do if there is a dead animal in the roadway or terrace that needs to be removed?' with 'Contact the City of Oshkosh Street Department at (920) 236-5380.' The same police page says 'Oshkosh Police Department will NOT remove wild animals from residences; a private pest control service should be contacted.' The Winnebago County Highway Department maintains the county trunk letter routes but publishes nothing about carcass removal, and WisDOT's Car-Killed Deer page assigns county highways to the county and local roads to the municipality. Nothing on those pages covers a yard, a deck or a wall, a fee, or a response time. Private ground is the owner's to sort out through an independent operator. What that operator takes on, and whether one is free for an Oshkosh address at all, is established while you are on the phone.
Communities around Oshkosh: Near East Neighborhood, Menominee Park, Millers Bay, Algoma Boulevard, Downtown Oshkosh, South Side (Sawdust District), Stevens Park, North Main, Westhaven, Oregon Street corridor, Town of Algoma, Town of Oshkosh, Town of Black Wolf, Omro, Winneconne, Neenah, Menasha.
Any private-property work in Oshkosh would be done by an independent operator, if one is available for the address, and disposal is that operator's to arrange under the rule covering that species in that county. DNR's guidance for handling dead wildlife is gloves or an inverted bag, never bare hands. A raccoon, skunk, bat or fox that a person or pet has been in contact with is a question for the local health department.
What do people call about in Oshkosh?
Around Oshkosh, expect raccoon and skunk under the porches and detached garages of the Near East Neighborhood, the South Side and the Algoma Boulevard blocks; opossum along the river banks and the Menominee Park and Millers Bay lots; squirrel in the attics of the older two-story houses near the UW Oshkosh campus; and deer along I-41, US 45, WIS 21, WIS 44 and County Y, the Lake Butte des Morts shoreline and the Sawyer Creek corridor, heaviest in the October to December rut and again after the late-November gun deer season. Found one in a Oshkosh yard? Start here. Odor, nothing in sight? The five places to check first.
What does dead animal removal cost in Oshkosh?
Winnebago County publishes something none of the other counties on this site does: an actual carcass disposal program, with a fee rule attached to it. It may not apply to you. Its Deer Carcass Disposal Program at 100 W County Road Y waives the charge from October 1 through December 31 and runs normal scale fees the rest of the year, but the program is written for residents processing their own deer, and nothing says a yard-found or road-killed animal qualifies. Call 920-232-1800 before counting on it. For the removal itself, and for every species that program does not touch, the amount comes from the independent operator who takes the job, worked out on the call from the animal, the spot and the access. This page has verified no such amount and prints none.
Nearby Wisconsin pages
The closest metros to Oshkosh with their own pages, each with what that city publishes, the road split and the species people report.
Oshkosh dead animal questions
Oshkosh has both a form and a phone number for this. Which do I use, and what does either cover?
Oshkosh has no separate animal control office. Who takes a dead-animal call instead?
Deer carcass near Oshkosh: does it matter whether it is on I-41, County Y or a city street?
The city's form is scoped to public areas. What is left for a carcass in an Oshkosh yard?
Oshkosh's cart guidelines say nothing about animals. Where does a bagged one go, and where does a deer go?
Is anyone available for an Oshkosh address?
Oshkosh Dead Animal Removal
Call to discuss the situation. Availability for a Winnebago County address depends on current operator coverage; any price is quoted on the call.