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Dead Animal Removal in Orange County and Orlando
Orange County's ordinance does contain a line about Animal Services disposing of remains on private property. It is narrower than it sounds, it starts with an officer finding the animal rather than you reporting it, and there is no resident channel to request it.
Orange County deserves a careful answer rather than a slogan, because the ordinance and the practice point in slightly different directions.
Section 5-36(b) says that when the division manager or an animal services officer discovers a dead animal on private property, the division gives the owner or keeper written notice to dispose of the remains within twenty-four hours, and that if the owner or keeper cannot be identified or notified, the division shall dispose of the remains. Read literally, a wild animal has no owner, so that last limb can reach it.
Three things keep that from being a service you can use. The trigger is an officer discovering the animal, not a resident asking. Orange County Animal Services publishes no dead-animal request channel at all, and its Report a Pet Issue form has no category for one. And where an owner is identified and does not act, the division disposes of the remains and bills that owner, with a citation. So we will not tell you the county provides free private-property removal, because nothing in the text is free, request-driven or guaranteed. We also will not tell you the county never acts on private land, because the ordinance plainly contemplates that it can.
Orlando adopts the county's animal ordinance inside the city, so section 5-36 is the operative rule there too. The city separately prohibits leaving a carcass that annoys or endangers health, and gives the Director or a Division Manager authority to order the owner of the animal, or the owner of the premises, to remove it.
Who is responsible for what
| Situation | Who handles it | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Private property, officer finds it, owner unknown | Orange County Animal Services disposes of the remains | Ordinance 5-36(b). Triggered by officer discovery, not by a resident request |
| Private property, owner identified | The owner disposes within 24 hours of written notice | If they do not, the division acts and bills them, plus a citation |
| Public property and county-maintained roads | Orange County Animal Services | Ordinance 5-36(c) |
| Requesting help as a resident | No published channel | Animal Services publishes no dead-animal request category |
| Inside Orlando | The county ordinance applies | Orlando adopts it by Sec. 6.01; the city may also order removal under Sec. 28.12(3) |
Doing it yourself here
Section 5-36(d) tells the owner or keeper of an animal that died of something other than rabies to dispose of the carcass by burning or by burying at least three feet below the surface. Note that the burning half sits oddly with the county's own guidance elsewhere that open burning is prohibited in Orange County, so burial is the practical route in that subsection. Three feet is deeper than the two feet Florida law names, which is the kind of local difference worth checking before you dig.
Where that leaves wildlife on private ground
Orange County's chapter defines an owner as a person possessing, harboring, keeping or having control or custody of an animal, with a thirty-day feeding rule attached. A raccoon that dies under a deck has no owner in that sense, which is exactly the branch of 5-36(b) with no billing attached, and also exactly the branch with no way for you to trigger it.
Questions about Orange County
Will Orange County come and take a dead animal off my property?
Not on request, because there is no request channel. The ordinance has Animal Services dispose of remains found on private property when an officer discovers them and the owner or keeper cannot be identified, but the trigger is that discovery rather than your call, and Animal Services publishes no dead-animal reporting category. Where an owner is identified, the division acts only after a 24-hour notice expires, and then bills that owner and issues a citation.
Is it different inside the city of Orlando?
The same county ordinance applies, because Orlando adopts the Orange County Animal Services Ordinance as it may be amended from time to time. Orlando also has its own provision prohibiting a carcass that annoys or endangers health, under which the Director or a Division Manager may order the owner of the animal, or the owner of the premises, to remove it within six hours. That is an order directed at you, not a service offered to you.
How deep does Orange County say to bury an animal?
Section 5-36(d) names burning or burying at least three feet below the surface, for an animal that died of something other than rabies. That is a foot deeper than the depth named in Florida's state statute, and the burning alternative is difficult to square with the county's separate position that open burning is prohibited.
Sources for this page
- Orange County Code, Sec. 5-36, Disposal of dead animals · checked 20 September 2026
- Orange County Code, Sec. 5-29, definitions · checked 20 September 2026
- Orange County Animal Services, Report a Pet Issue · checked 20 September 2026
- City of Orlando Code, Sec. 6.01 · checked 20 September 2026