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Ask CITYVIEW

3/1/2023

Who picks up roadkill, and where does it go?

It depends on where you are. If an animal dies along the interstate, a U.S. highway or state highway, the Iowa Department of Transportation is responsible. Contact law enforcement if roadkill is affecting the flow of traffic. Otherwise, call the Iowa DOT Traffic Management Center (TMC) at 515-237-3300 for roadkill that is off the roadway. The TMC is staffed 24/7 and will dispatch maintenance personnel to respond, if necessary.

Cleanup is handled by DOT maintenance garages overseeing the respective area. The process is funded through the DOT’s maintenance budget collected via the road use tax.

As for the fate of the animal carcass, most are pulled off the roadway into ditches and buried in tall grass, where nature then does its work.

“Others that can’t be buried in our right of way get hauled off to another area where they can be buried or to a rendering company,” explained Maintenance Bureau Assistant Director Mohamed Mohamed.

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For roadkill on county roads and city streets, you’ll need to contact your respective county or municipality during their regular business hours or leave a message. In Des Moines, you can call the Des Moines Police Non-Emergency Line at 515-283-4811 or reach the Animal Control Shelter directly at 515-284-6905. Police Sergeant Jake Lancaster, the city’s animal control officer, noted that most calls are reported by city employees before the public would need to.

“The City of Des Moines has employees traveling throughout the city constantly, and they are diligent in reporting these situations when they come across them,” he said.

Animal Service Officers are responsible for dead animal pickup on public roadways within Des Moines city limits. The city contracts with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, which scans possibly domesticated animals for microchips and attempts to locate the owners. For wild animals or unidentified pets, the remains are taken to Metro Waste Authority.

And for any venison lovers out there — yes, you can legally bring home a deer hit by a car in Iowa, as long as you first obtain a salvage tag from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It’s legal to pick up any other roadkill if you have a hunting license for that particular animal and it is in season; otherwise, you’ll also need a salvage tag.

How about when a deer dies on my property? Who is in charge of cleanup?

Again, it depends on where you live, but for Des Moines residents, here’s what we heard from a city spokesperson: “The City of Des Moines and the ARL will pick up wild animals found on private property. This is out of precaution for potential diseases the animal may carry. The City will not respond to domesticated animals at private properties. That is to be handled by the owner of the animal.” ♦

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