Who Removes a Dead Animal in Colorado

Usually the property owner. Denver's Solid Waste Management publishes that it "does NOT collect on private property". Boulder County says property owners are responsible for all animal remains on private property, Lakewood says the same of dead wildlife, and Aurora's animal protection officers are not available to remove wildlife from private property. Where nothing is offered, the practical choices are handling a small animal yourself where that is safe, or paying a private company.

Four that we found. Centennial removes raccoons, foxes, coyotes, deer and wildlife of a similar size from single-family residential property when the owner or tenant asks; it does not take birds, squirrels, rabbits or pets, or collect on multi-family or commercial property, and no fee is published. NOCO Humane officers can pick up dead animals on private property in Fort Collins, Loveland and unincorporated Larimer County for $35 per animal, with one field officer responding as time permits in Loveland and the county. In unincorporated Jefferson County, Animal Control may remove a small non-game animal under 100 pounds as a courtesy, as time and call volume allow, if it is readily accessible and at ground level. Unincorporated Arapahoe County removes small to medium animals for a fee, by appointment, with the rate given by phone. None of these pages mentions decks, crawl spaces or attics. The locations page has the details and phone numbers.

On state and U.S. highways and interstates, CDOT maintenance crews clear carcasses from the road. CDOT takes reports through its five regional offices (Region 1 Denver 303-759-2368, Region 2 Pueblo 719-562-5568, Region 3 Grand Junction 970-243-2368, Region 4 Greeley 970-350-2368, Region 5 Durango 970-385-1423) and its online contact form, and says to contact local law enforcement about a highway problem on evenings and weekends. If you hit the animal, report the crash to the Colorado State Patrol on *277.

Start with the city or county that maintains the road, though not every one publishes a route. Denver collects dead animals in the public right-of-way through 311. Lakewood has a dead animal pickup line for wildlife in the street. In unincorporated Douglas County a service run by the Sheriff's Office picks up animals larger than a rabbit from public streets, and El Paso County Public Works removes animals the size of a cat or larger from county roads. Boulder County Road Maintenance removes only deer-sized carcasses that may cause a traffic hazard. Numbers for each are on the locations page.

We found no CPW page offering to remove a dead animal from private property. Its published statement on removal is about live nuisance animals: "Colorado Parks and Wildlife will not remove nuisance animals from your property. Pest control, or wildlife removal companies can be hired to remove the animal for you." CPW does ask to hear about some dead animals: adult deer, elk or moose carcasses that look unusually thin, and three or more birds found dead in one area. A dead bear or mountain lion is a call to CPW before anything else, because possessing any part of one is prohibited without CPW authorization.

We found no statewide deadline. Some cities set one: Pueblo's code makes it unlawful to let a carcass remain on property you own, control or occupy for more than 24 hours, and Colorado Springs' code requires anyone with a dead animal on their premises to dispose of it immediately, at their own expense. Elsewhere, your city or county may treat a decaying carcass as a nuisance.