Dead Animal Removal in Portland, OR
Who handles a dead animal in Portland and Multnomah County, quoted from the agency's own page: a city street, a state highway, and the private-property case that is yours to arrange.
- Phone first
- Nothing is priced on this site
- Your ZIP decides
- Who, if anyone, can take it on
- Quoted on the call
- Once the job is known
- ✓ Oregon statewide · one number
Who do I call for a dead animal in Portland, OR?
What decides it is the road the animal is lying on, or the fact that it is not lying on one. On a public street, Multnomah County Animal Services is the published contact: (503) 988-7387. On an Interstate, US route or Oregon state highway, ODOT's Carcass Collection Program clears it, through Ask ODOT on 1-888-275-6368; an animal that cannot be moved off the road safely is a 911 call. On a county-maintained road it is the county road department's. On private property, a yard, attic, deck or crawl space, it is the owner's to arrange; none of the Portland pages we reviewed offers collection from private property. For private property in Portland, Oregon Dead Animal Removal can talk through the situation and check whether an independent operator is available for a Multnomah County address: call (503) 213-6864. Nothing here guarantees availability, and any price is quoted on that call.
Is dead animal removal free in Portland?
There is a county service, and it stops well short of a dead animal in a Portland yard. Multnomah County Animal Services attends deceased cats, dogs and large wildlife in public areas, and its page says an animal in a private area must be moved to the public right of way before it is collected. It also says it cannot pick up small wildlife at all, and the seventeen examples it lists cover nearly every animal a household actually finds. The page states no fee and never uses the word free. Anything on private property is the owner's responsibility; whether an independent operator is available for a Multnomah County address is decided on the call.
| Where the animal is | Who is responsible | Phone | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public street or city property | Multnomah County Animal Services | (503) 988-7387 | Not stated on the page |
| Interstate, US or state highway | Oregon Department of Transportation | 1-888-275-6368 | State service |
| Private property: yard, deck, attic, crawl space | The owner arranges it; an independent operator if one is available for the address | (503) 213-6864 | Depends on operator availability; quoted on the call |
“Multnomah County Animal Control Officers will continue to respond to reports of decease cats, dogs, and large wildlife in public areas. If in a private area, the pet will need to be moved to the public right of way for pickup.”
“MCAS is unable to pick up small wildlife.”
“MCAS does not offer pickup for personal pets, but the following resources are available for end-of-life services and cremation.”
“Place the triple-bagged and sealed carcass into the garbage.”
“Alternatively, deceased animals may be triple-bagged and brought to a Metro Transfer Station for a fee.”
“MCAS generally does not deal with wildlife nuisances.”
Quoted verbatim on September 20, 2026 from Multnomah County Animal Services, Deceased Animals & End of Life Services.
What the pages do not say: The page states no fee for a public-area pickup and never says free. It gives no response time. It does not define large wildlife, so where a coyote or a deer falls between the large list and the small one is unstated. It names no City of Portland bureau, and no separate City of Portland dead-animal policy was found on the pages reviewed. It says nothing about the Washington County and Clackamas County portions of the city.
Who not to call: Do not call the county for a raccoon, opossum, skunk, squirrel, rat or bird.; Its page states it cannot collect those, so the call costs you time and changes nothing..
A live animal is a different problem and a different call. The county says it generally does not deal with wildlife nuisances and points residents to regional resources instead.
For the statewide version of this breakdown, see our guide to who picks up dead animals in Oregon.
Why Portland gets the dead-animal calls it does
Portland sits where the Willamette meets the Columbia, and it spills across three counties: most of the city is in Multnomah, with pockets in Washington and Clackamas. That matters for a dead animal, because the body that answers is a county body, not a city bureau. Housing here runs old and close together, a great deal of it on raised foundations with vented crawl spaces and skirted decks, and the tree canopy is heavy enough that raccoons, opossums and squirrels move through back gardens the whole year. Add the nutria established along the sloughs and the Columbia lowlands, and the animal a Portland household actually finds dead is usually small, usually out of reach under something, and usually not one the county will take.
Multnomah County Animal Services is the published contact for a deceased animal in Portland, on (503) 988-7387 or through its online report form. Its own page draws two lines a caller needs to know about. The first is location: officers respond to deceased cats, dogs and large wildlife in public areas, and where the animal is in a private area it has to be moved to the public right of way before it will be collected. The second is size: the county states plainly that it is unable to pick up small wildlife, and it lists seventeen examples, raccoons, opossums, skunks, squirrels, rodents, rabbits, beavers, otters and a range of birds among them. For those, the county's instruction is that the resident bags the animal themselves. Nothing on the page offers collection from inside a yard, and no fee is stated either way.
Communities around Portland: St Johns, Kenton, Piedmont, Woodlawn, Cully, Montavilla, Lents, Brentwood-Darlington, Sellwood-Moreland, Hosford-Abernethy, Buckman, Laurelhurst, Hollywood, Alberta, Overlook, Multnomah Village, Hillsdale, Forest Park, the West Hills.
Any private-property work in Portland would be performed by an independent operator, if one is available for the address, following the disposal route that applies to the animal and the county. Oregon has not detected chronic wasting disease, so no in-state carcass movement restriction applies herehandling guidance for dead wildlife (gloves or an inverted bag, never bare hands), with any raccoon, skunk, bat or fox exposure referred to the local health department.
What do people call about in Portland?
Raccoon, opossum, skunk, squirrel and rat are the routine Portland calls, and every one of them is on the county's list of animals it will not pick up. Nutria turn up along the sloughs and the Columbia lowlands. Deer are a Portland-fringe animal rather than an inner-city one, appearing on the west hills and the rural edges of the county. Found one in a Portland yard? Start here. Odor, nothing in sight? The five places to check first.
What does dead animal removal cost in Portland?
Nothing on this site quotes a price. Any private removal in Portland is priced by the independent operator on the call, and what moves that price is the animal, where it has got to, how much has to come apart to reach it, and how it is disposed of afterwards. The county publishes no fee for a public-area pickup and does not describe it as free.
Nearby Oregon pages
The closest metros to Portland with their own pages, each with that city's published policy, the road split and the species people report.
Portland dead animal questions
Will Multnomah County pick up a dead raccoon in my back garden?
What animals does Multnomah County actually collect?
The animal is under my deck and I cannot reach it. What now?
Does the City of Portland run a dead-animal service of its own?
Where can I take a dead animal myself in Portland?
My dog or cat has died at home. Will the county collect it?
Portland Dead Animal Removal
Call to discuss the situation. Availability for a Multnomah County address depends on current operator coverage; any price is quoted on the call.