Dead Animal Removal in Racine, WI
Who handles a dead animal in Racine and Racine 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
- ✓ Wisconsin statewide · one number
Who do I call for a dead animal in Racine, 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 Racine Department of Customer Service (referral published by the City of Racine Public Health Department) is the published contact: (262) 636-9171. 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 Racine pages we reviewed offers collection from private property. For private property in Racine, Wisconsin Dead Animal Removal can talk through the situation and check whether an independent operator is available for a Racine County address: call (414) 928-2653. Nothing here guarantees availability, and any price is quoted on that call.
Is dead animal removal free in Racine?
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. Anything on private property is the owner's responsibility; whether an independent operator is available for a Racine County address is decided on the call.
| Where the animal is | Who is responsible | Phone | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public street or city property | City of Racine Department of Customer Service (referral published by the City of Racine Public Health Department) | (262) 636-9171 | City service |
| Interstate, US or state highway | Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), Car-Killed Deer contract, HMM 07-15-01 | 911 in the lane; county highway department or sheriff otherwise (no WisDOT hotline) | State service |
| County trunk highway | Racine County Public Works Department (Highways / Engineering Division) | (262) 886-8440 | Not published |
| 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 |
“Deceased animals, if they must be moved, should be safely handled using tools (e.g. shovel) and gloves then placed into a garbage bag and deposited into a solid waste container.”
“Animals, domestic or wild, killed on the roadway report to the City of Racine Department of Customer Service (262-636-9171).”
“How do I report sick or dead wildlife? Please visit the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website to report sick or dead wildlife or call 608-267-0866.”
“Please note, in most cases, the department does not have the resources to remove dead animals, including deer.”
“Residents are allowed to place up to (3) bags of Solid Waste outside a FULL solid waste cart.”
“Counties and municipalities are responsible for disposal of deer along county highways”
Quoted verbatim on 2026-09-15 from cityofracinewi.gov Public Health 'Animal Bites & Rabies' page (health/home-environment/animals), the Public Health 'Home & Environment' FAQ set, the Animal Licensing & Ownership page, the DPW Solid Waste page, the Adopt-a-Park page and the city FAQ index; Racine Municipal Code Sec. 78-1 (Municode); the Racine County Public Works & Engineering page; WisDOT's Car-Killed Deer page and Highway Maintenance Manual 07-15-01 (July 2025); DNR's 'What to do if you see a sick or dead deer' page. All retrieved September 15, 2026..
What the pages do not say: Whether the roadway pickup is free (no fee is stated, and silence is not 'free'); which crew responds and in what time; after-hours, weekend and holiday coverage; whether the terrace, an alley or the curb in front of a house counts as 'the roadway'; anything for private property; anything for deer specifically (the city's wording is species-neutral); a weight or size limit for the cart and what to do with an animal too large to bag; whether the 6300 21st Street transfer station or the Pearl Street drop-off accepts a carcass; any Racine County policy for county trunk highways (the Public Works page publishes none and the Sheriff's Office page was not opened); the name of WisDOT's Racine County contractor; a deceased-pet channel; whether an independent operator currently covers Racine County.
Who not to call: Wisconsin DNR (Wildlife Switchboard 608-267-0866) for a pickup; its sick or dead deer page says "in most cases, the department does not have the resources to remove dead animals, including deer", and its reporting form is for wildlife health, not removal; City of Racine Public Health Environmental Health Division ((262) 636-9201) for a carcass pickup; its page lists that number for rabies exposure and for a bat found inside a residence, and otherwise tells residents to bag a deceased animal themselves; The city's Animal Complaint / Report a Concern form for a carcass; its published scope is unlicensed, prohibited and running-at-large animals and nuisance complaints; Wisconsin Humane Society Racine Campus ((262) 554-6699) for a dead animal; its page lists adoption, surrenders and stray (live) animals, not deceased-animal intake; 511 Wisconsin for a dead animal on a highway; its report form has no animal category.
A live nuisance animal is a different call: DNR's Nuisance Wildlife Guide lets a landowner or occupant remove listed species on their own land and refers the public to the Wisconsin Trapper Association referral list, and the city's Animal Complaint form covers animals running at large.
For the statewide version of this breakdown, see our guide to who picks up dead animals in Wisconsin.
Why Racine gets the dead-animal calls it does
Racine sits where the Root River meets Lake Michigan, and most of its housing is old: brick and frame houses from the early 1900s on narrow lots in Uptown, the Southside Historic District and the Northside, with porches, stone foundations and chimneys that a raccoon or squirrel can get into and not out of. The Root River is the wildlife corridor, wooded from Lincoln Park through Colonial Park and Johnson Park to the harbor, and the yards backing onto it produce most of the raccoon, opossum and skunk calls. Deer live on the western and northern edges, where Mount Pleasant, Caledonia and Sturtevant turn from subdivisions into farm fields: Sanders Park, Cliffside Park, the WIS 31, WIS 38 and Four Mile Road corridors, and I-94, with vehicle strikes peaking in the rut from October into December. Along the lake, North Beach, Zoo Beach and Wind Point collect washed-up birds and fish. West Racine and the postwar ranches out Washington Avenue (WIS 20) and Durand Avenue (WIS 11) fill in the rest of the call map.
The City of Racine publishes one removal referral, and it is roadway-scoped: the Public Health Department's animals page says "Animals, domestic or wild, killed on the roadway report to the City of Racine Department of Customer Service (262-636-9171)", a line published as staffed 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. 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 a solid waste container; Racine Municipal Code Sec. 78-1 lists "carcasses, carrion" among nauseous or offensive waste and counts limited amounts of that waste as domestic waste, and the DPW cart rules allow up to three black bags of no more than 42 gallons outside a full cart. Sick or dead wildlife is referred to the Wisconsin DNR at 608-267-0866, and DNR's own page says that "in most cases, the department does not have the resources to remove dead animals, including deer." Racine County Public Works, which maintains the county trunk highways and the state highways under contract, publishes no dead-animal policy or reporting number on its page, and WisDOT's Car-Killed Deer contract covers deer on the shoulder and right-of-way of Interstates, US and state highways only, with 911 for a carcass in a travel lane. A carcass in a yard, under a deck or in a crawl space is the owner's to arrange with an independent operator. One sealed inside a finished wall is a different question, because nobody reached here cuts plaster or drywall, so that stays a matter of access and time rather than a job to book.
Communities around Racine: Downtown Racine, Uptown, West Racine, Southside Historic District, Northside, North Beach, Wind Point, North Bay, Elmwood Park, Mount Pleasant, Caledonia, Sturtevant, Franksville, Union Grove.
Any private-property work in Racine 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 Racine?
Common around Racine: raccoon and opossum under porches and in the chimneys of the old Uptown, Southside and Northside housing and along the Root River in Lincoln Park and Colonial Park; skunk under sheds and decks in West Racine and the ranch blocks toward Mount Pleasant; squirrel in attics on the mature streets near Johnson Park and Wind Point; deer on the Mount Pleasant and Caledonia edges along WIS 31, WIS 38, Four Mile Road and I-94, heaviest from October into December. Found one in a Racine yard? Start here. Odor, nothing in sight? The five places to check first.
What does dead animal removal cost in Racine?
Racine is unusual in telling residents outright to bag it themselves, so the published route here is the one you carry out yourself: a shovel, gloves, a bag, a solid waste container. What that instruction does not reach is the animal you cannot get to, cannot lift, or cannot find: a raccoon that went under an Uptown porch and did not come out, or a deer down on a Caledonia field edge. Those go to an independent operator, and the amount is theirs to state once they know the species, the location, how the carcass has to be reached and where it can go afterward. The city publishes no weight limit, says nothing about a deer in a cart, and does not say whether the 6300 21st Street transfer station takes carcasses, so the disposal end is being worked out in the same conversation. No amount has been verified for this city and none is printed here.
Nearby Wisconsin pages
The closest metros to Racine with their own pages, each with what that city publishes, the road split and the species people report.
Racine dead animal questions
Something was killed on a Racine roadway. Which city number is published for that?
The only city referral is for the roadway. What covers a raccoon dead in the yard?
I hit a deer on I-94 in Racine County and it is on the shoulder. Who comes for it?
Three places get suggested for this in Racine: animal control, the Humane Society and the DNR. Do any of them collect a carcass?
Public Health tells residents to bag the animal and bin it. What do the DPW cart rules allow?
Does anyone here work Racine County?
Racine Dead Animal Removal
Call to discuss the situation. Availability for a Racine County address depends on current operator coverage; any price is quoted on the call.