Home/Dead Animal Pickup in Jackson: What Exists

Dead Animal Pickup in Jackson, MS: What the City Publishes

Checked against City of Jackson, City of Clinton and Mississippi State Department of Health pages on November 7, 2026. How we research this site.

Jackson does not publish a dead-animal pickup rule. We looked for one on the city’s solid waste, 311 and animal control pages and found nothing, so this page sets out what is published, what is not, and who to ask.

What we found, place by place

The city: 311 and a contractor

Jackson routes non-emergency requests through Jackson 311, which you reach by dialling 3-1-1 or through the city’s online portal. The city says each request is sent to the right department and tracked to resolution, and its list of what 311 handles includes garbage collection, bulk trash, and non-emergency police and animal control issues. A dead animal on a city street is the kind of request 311 exists for, even though the city does not name it.

Household collection is contracted to Richard’s Disposal, which runs residential pickup from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The Solid Waste Division page lists chemicals, construction debris and recyclables as not allowed. It is silent on animals.

One more thing worth knowing before you call: WLBT reported in July 2026 that Jackson has no animal control facility, and a rescue group quoted in the story said the city shelter closed in 2021. That limits what animal control can take in, so do not expect a quick collection.

Interstates and state highways

Roads such as I-55 and I-20 belong to the state, not the city. We found no MDOT page about dead animals and nothing from Jackson or Hinds County on it. Lafayette County in north Mississippi tells its residents that MDOT handles dead animals in the roadway and gives (601) 359-7001, which is the closest thing to a published answer we could find.

Under the floor, in the attic, in a wall

This is the part no public body here touches. A house on piers has a crawlspace under it, which gives an animal somewhere to shelter and, sometimes, to die. Finding the carcass is usually the hardest step: a smell spreads through a crawlspace or along ductwork and the strongest point is not always above the animal. Once found, a removal service takes it out, deals with insulation or vapor barrier it has soaked into, and finds the opening that let it in.

We do not publish prices. Whether the animal can be reached from the crawlspace or attic, or whether a ceiling or wall has to be opened, decides the job.

How long you will smell it

There is no reliable timetable. An Extension expert told one homeowner a small animal usually stops smelling within a week or two, and Extension guidance adds that a larger animal takes longer, since the odor only fades once the carcass dries or insects consume it. Humidity slows that down. Air fresheners mask it. They do not end it.

If you move it yourself

Wear gloves, use a shovel, and bag it. The Mississippi State Department of Health says rabies in land animals is exceptionally rare in Mississippi, and that bats are the main reservoir for the virus in the state.

So treat a bat differently. MSDH says not to handle live bats or bats that seem to be dead, and that any bat, live or dead, that may have touched a person or pet should be tested for rabies. For testing instructions it gives the MSDH Office of Epidemiology, 601-576-7725, or 601-576-7400 after hours. If someone may have had contact with a bat, it says to talk to a health care provider at once.

Questions people ask

Does the City of Jackson pick up dead animals?

We could not find a City of Jackson page that says it does, or how. The city’s Solid Waste Division page covers garbage, bulk trash and the contractor’s schedule but does not mention dead animals. Jackson 311 is the city’s single line for non-emergency requests, including animal control issues, so dial 311 and ask.

Can I put a dead animal in my Jackson garbage cart?

The city does not say either way. Its Solid Waste Division page lists what is not allowed in collection, and dead animals are not on that list, but it does not say they are accepted either. Ask Jackson 311 or the city’s contractor, Richard’s Disposal, on 769-333-4222 before you rely on it.

Who removes a dead animal from under my house in Jackson?

No public agency in Jackson or Hinds County publishes a service for that. A carcass under a floor, in an attic or inside a wall is a job for a private removal service.

Is a dead raccoon or opossum a rabies risk in Mississippi?

The Mississippi State Department of Health says rabies in land animals is exceptionally rare in the state and that bats are the main reservoir. Bats are the exception to take seriously: MSDH says not to handle bats, alive or apparently dead, and that any bat that may have had contact with a person or pet should be tested.