Washington rules
Washington Dead Animal Disposal Rules
Washington regulates this more clearly than most states, and gets miscited more often than most states, because the chapter with the obvious title is about livestock and the rule that actually governs your dead raccoon is somewhere else entirely.
The figures below are the wildlife and pet figures. Larger setbacks circulate widely online; those come from the livestock rule and are noted where they apply. Last checked 20 September 2026.
What does Washington law require you to do with a dead animal?
Dispose of it within 72 hours, and get it out of public view immediately. WAC 246-203-121 places that duty on the owner of the animal or, where the owner cannot be identified, on the owner of the property where the animal is found. The rule defines a dead animal broadly, as the carcass or tissue from an animal large or small, excluding fish and aquatic animals. What the rule does not do is provide anyone to carry it out. Washington creates the obligation and names no agency to discharge it, which is why the practical answer for most property owners is either handling it themselves within the rules below or hiring somebody.
Source: Washington State Board of Health, WAC 246-203-121, checked 2026-09-22.
Can you bury a dead animal in Washington?
Generally yes, with two figures that matter. For a pet or a wild animal, WAC 246-203-121 requires at least three feet of soil covering and a location at least 100 feet from any water source. Those are the numbers that apply to a dead raccoon or a dead cat. A much larger set of setbacks circulates online, typically 300 feet from water and 300 feet from a neighboring residence with a five-acre minimum, and those come from WAC 16-25-025, which governs livestock. Applying the livestock figures to a squirrel is a common mistake. Local rules can be stricter than the state floor, and some cities prohibit burial of refuse inside city limits outright, so a quick check of your own municipal code is worth the two minutes.
Source: Washington State Board of Health, WAC 246-203-121, checked 2026-09-22.
Can you put a dead animal in the trash in Washington?
That is decided locally, not by the state, and Washington jurisdictions set different limits. No state solid-waste rule names a weight at which a carcass may go in a household cart. What exists are local rules, and they disagree: King County allows small dead animals under 15 pounds in your own garbage can or dumpster, the City of Spokane caps animal remains in the waste stream at fifteen pounds, and Thurston County accepts double-bagged carcasses under 60 pounds at its waste and recovery center. Above whatever the local line is, the usual routes are self-haul to a landfill or transfer station that accepts carcasses, often for a published fee, or a private operator. Check your own county before you set anything out.
Source: King County Solid Waste Division, checked 2026-09-22.
Do Washington's livestock disposal rules apply to wildlife?
No, and this is the single most common error in circulation. RCW chapter 16.68 is titled Disposal of Dead Animals, which is why it gets cited for everything, but RCW 16.68.010 limits it to a meat food animal, defined as cattle, horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep and goats. It reaches no raccoon, opossum, squirrel, deer, rat, dog or cat. The related burial duty often cited as RCW 16.68.020 was recodified in 2006 and now sits at RCW 16.36.102, where the operative noun is livestock. If you are reading advice about a dead wild animal that cites chapter 16.68 at you, the advice is about farm animals.
Source: Washington State Legislature, RCW 16.68.010, checked 2026-09-22.
Can you take it to a landfill or transfer station yourself?
Often yes, and usually for a fee, but acceptance is set by the receiving facility rather than by the state. Yakima County publishes a deceased animals line on its landfill fee schedule at a per-ton rate. Richland publishes a flat charge of $75 for a small animal and $150 for a large one. Spokane County takes carcasses under 35 pounds at its transfer stations and larger ones at the waste-to-energy facility by appointment. King County's ordinary transfer stations will not take an animal of 15 pounds or more without a waste clearance, which pushes larger carcasses to a single regional landfill. Ring ahead rather than driving there, because the conditions differ and several facilities require an appointment.
Source: City of Richland, checked 2026-09-22.
Related questions
Is there a penalty for getting it wrong?
Local health jurisdictions enforce the sanitation rules and can require abatement, and municipal codes carry their own penalties for dumping. The practical risk for a homeowner acting in good faith is low; the reason to follow the rules is that the setbacks exist to keep a carcass out of groundwater.
Does the 72-hour clock start at death or at discovery?
At either, whichever applies. The rule reads within 72 hours after death or discovery, so finding an animal that clearly died some time ago starts the clock at the point you found it.
What about an animal that died in a water feature or a stream?
The sanitation rule excludes fish and aquatic animals from its definition, and anything involving a watercourse raises separate water-quality questions. That is a case for your local health jurisdiction rather than a general rule.
Every source used on this page is listed, with the date it was read, at sources. If something here no longer matches what an agency publishes, that is worth telling us about.
If the animal is on your own property and you have established that no public service covers it, call 206-350-7737 and describe it, or send the details.