Northeast Florida · no confirmed operator coverage
Dead Animal Removal in Jacksonville and Duval County
Jacksonville scopes its free service by distance rather than by ownership. If the animal is within fifty feet of a school, a bus stop, a city building or a city road, the city will take it, and a lot of front yards sit inside that band.
Jacksonville is the most useful county in Florida to check before paying anyone, because its rule is measured in feet rather than property lines.
The city's service catalogue says that if a deceased animal is located on or within fifty feet of a school, a school bus stop, a city building or a city road, you may submit a service request to report it. Nothing in that sentence asks who owns the ground. A typical Jacksonville front yard is well inside fifty feet of the street, so a carcass on the lawn may qualify even though it is plainly on private land.
That is genuinely free and you should use it. What it does not reach is the rest of the property: a back yard on a deep lot, under a deck, a crawl space, a soffit, an attic, or anything else more than fifty feet from those four things. It also says nothing about structures at all.
Who is responsible for what
| Situation | Who handles it | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Within 50 ft of a school, bus stop, city building or city road | City of Jacksonville, service request | Free. The test is proximity, not who owns the land |
| Further than 50 ft from any of those | Not covered | No city service is published for it |
| Interstate, highway or state road, not obstructing traffic | FDOT District 2, (904) 360-5200 | Per the city's published referral |
| Obstructing traffic on a highway | 911 | Reported to the Sheriff's Office as a safety risk |
| A pet you owned | Private disposal, cremation or your vet | Burial on your own property is permitted at 2 ft deep and 100 ft from water |
Doing it yourself here
For a pet you owned, Jacksonville states you may bury the animal on your property provided it is at least two feet underground and at least one hundred feet from any water source. That hundred-foot rule is a Duval-specific detail worth knowing, and it appears in the pet section rather than the wildlife section. The page never mentions garbage carts either way.
Where that leaves wildlife on private ground
For wildlife, the city's guidance points residents to the state wildlife agency for guidance and resources rather than offering to collect anything. So the fifty-foot service is the exception, and outside that band a wild animal on private ground has no published public route.
Questions about Duval County
Is Jacksonville's dead animal pickup really free for my yard?
It can be, and it is decided by distance rather than by ownership. The city's published rule is that if the deceased animal is on or within fifty feet of a school, a school bus stop, a city building or a city road, you can submit a service request. A front yard is often inside fifty feet of the road. A deep back yard usually is not.
What if the animal is further back on my property?
Then no city service we could find covers it. The fifty-foot band is the whole of the published eligibility, and nothing in the catalogue addresses an animal under a deck, in a crawl space, in a soffit or in an attic.
Who handles a dead animal on I-95 in Duval County?
The city routes it to the Florida Department of Transportation District 2 office on (904) 360-5200 where the animal is not obstructing traffic. If it is obstructing traffic and posing a safety risk, the instruction is to call 911 so the Sheriff's Office can respond.
Can I bury my dog in the garden in Jacksonville?
The city's guidance says a property owner can bury an animal on their property as long as it is at least two feet underground and at least one hundred feet from any water source. That paragraph is written about pets, not about wildlife you have found.
Sources for this page
- City of Jacksonville, deceased animal service catalogue · checked 20 September 2026
- City of Jacksonville, animal-related guidance · checked 20 September 2026