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Dead Animal Removal in Seattle
The one Washington city that will collect a large carcass from private property, and the one where the 15-pound line decides everything.
Seattle is the exception to almost everything else on this site, and it is worth understanding precisely rather than roughly. The city does come onto private property for a dead animal, its code says so, and pretending otherwise would be wrong. It also hands the most common calls straight back to the resident, by name, which is where the paid work still sits.
Who is responsible for what
| Situation | Who handles it | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Large deceased wild or domestic animal, private property | Seattle Animal Control | Collected on the occupant's request, behind emergency calls; no fee published |
| Deceased wild animal under 15 pounds | The resident | Double bagged into household trash; rats, squirrels and birds named explicitly |
| Animal in a crawl space, attic, soffit or deck void | Not addressed by the city | No published municipal capability for confined or structural spaces |
| A smell with no identified animal | Not addressed by the city | Intake requires the animal type and an exact location, so the request cannot be made |
| Marine mammal | Refused by the city | Referred to a stranding network |
| Outside Seattle city limits | Not Seattle | Animal control serves addresses inside the city limits only |
| State highway | WSDOT | Via Washington State Patrol or local law enforcement |
Doing it yourself here
Seattle's own guidance is that deceased wild animals under 15 pounds can be double bagged and disposed of in the regular trash, and it names rats, squirrels and birds as examples. King County Public Health recommends protective equipment for any contact with a dead animal. Above 15 pounds the city's transfer stations will not take it and the page directs you to animal control instead.
Where that leaves wildlife on private ground
The gap in Seattle is not the large carcass on the lawn, which the city will collect. It is everything the city's intake cannot describe: an animal under a deck, in a crawl space, in a soffit, or a smell somewhere in the structure with nothing yet found. Those requests cannot even be filed, because the form requires you to say what the animal is and exactly where it is.
Questions about King County
Is the Seattle service really free?
No dead-animal collection fee is published. The $50 pick-up line on the city's fees page sits inside the impound fee table with daily kenneling and vet transport, which makes it a live-animal impound charge. This site will not present it as a carcass fee.
What counts as large?
Seattle does not publish an upper definition. What it publishes is the floor: under 15 pounds is the resident's, and the pickup is for large deceased animals. Where exactly a mid-sized opossum falls is not stated, and the honest answer is to describe it and ask.
I am in Shoreline, Burien or unincorporated King County. Does this apply?
No. Seattle Animal Control serves addresses inside the Seattle city limits. Those three are separate jurisdictions with different rules, and the King County page covers them.
Sources for this page
- Seattle Animal Shelter, Animal Control · checked 22 September 2026
- Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.030 · checked 22 September 2026
- Seattle Public Utilities, transfer stations · checked 22 September 2026