Minneapolis, MN · Homes & private property
Minneapolis Dead
Animal Removal
Homes and private property only; the city addresses carcasses in the public street.
Request removal online ↓The city recovers pets. The raccoon in your wall, the squirrel in the attic, the deer in the yard — that’s yours to deal with, or, with one call, the operator’s: traced, removed where it can be reached without cutting a finished surface, and the smell treated at the source once it’s out.
Tell us where it is and what you’ve noticed — you’ll know the price before any work starts.
What one call can cover
- Walls, attics, chimneys and floor cavities — where access the house already has reaches it; no finished wall, ceiling or plaster is cut
- Basements, crawl spaces, garages, under porches and decks
- Yards, boulevards on your lot line, and business properties
- Deer on private land — lifted out and hauled away properly
- The spot it was lying on: disinfected and deodorized
You don’t need to know what the animal is. A smell and a guess is enough to start — the operator takes it from there.
What needs removing?
Dead animals around the property
Squirrels, raccoons, rats and mice, birds, and the rest of the usual suspects — traced, removed where they can be reached without cutting, disposed of properly.
All services →It’s inside the house
Walls, attic, chimney, basement, crawl space — traced first, then recovered where it can be reached without cutting a finished surface.
Removal from the house →You smell it, can’t find it
A worsening smell with nothing visible means a carcass hidden in a void. Pinpointing it is where the operator starts.
Odor & carcass location →A deer went down on your land
Yards and lots near the park corridors. Hauled off and disposed of the way Hennepin County’s guidance directs.
Dead deer removal →Anywhere in Minneapolis
The whole city plus the immediate metro. One number, no district lines.
Service area →What the city does — and where that ends
Minneapolis runs a genuinely good animal-services operation: report a dead animal through 311 and Animal Care & Control handles pickups — a program built around dead pets, so owners searching for a lost cat or dog can get answers. Carcasses on the public street get dealt with. That part works, it’s taxpayer-funded, and if your situation fits it, use it.
But wildlife that dies on your property is a different story. Hennepin County’s own disposal guidance tells residents to arrange proper disposal of a carcass on their land — and a deer can’t simply go in the trash cart at all. No city crew is tasked with the raccoon in your chimney or the squirrel under your deck — on private property, arranging removal falls to the owner. That gap between what 311 covers and what your house needs is exactly what 612-662-5070 is for.
What happens after you call
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Describe it
Where the animal (or the smell) is, how long it’s been there, and what kind of building. Priced up front.
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Locating it
Odor tracing, insect signs, and a methodical sweep by the operator, before any recovery starts.
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Recovering it, if it can be reached
Only through access the house already has — attic edge, chase, hatch; no finished wall, ceiling or plaster is cut. Where it can be reached, carcass and nest material come out bagged and leave your property; where it can’t, you get its likely location and help with the smell.
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Treating the spot
Once it’s out, where it lay gets scrubbed with disinfectant and an odor neutralizer — the difference between an odor that generally eases and one that can haunt the next thaw.
Old Minneapolis houses hide carcasses well
Most of this city went up before the Second World War: stucco over lath, balloon-framed walls that run open from basement to attic, brick chimneys with abandoned flues, and block foundations under back porches. A squirrel that falls down a wall cavity in a Kingfield four-square can end up a full story below where the smell is strongest — and the boulevard-tree canopy that makes these neighborhoods beautiful keeps the attics busy.
Then there’s winter. A carcass in an unheated wall or garage can barely smell in January — and bloom with the first real thaw. If a smell “appeared out of nowhere” during a thaw, it’s usually been there a while. The operator works these houses the way they demand: confirm the location first, recover only through access the house already has, and once the animal is out, treat the spot so the thaw has less to bring back.
Minneapolis questions, answered
Will Minneapolis 311 send someone out for a dead raccoon on my property?
Not for wildlife on private property. Minneapolis Animal Care & Control runs a pickup program centered on dead pets — reported through 311 — and the city addresses carcasses in the public street. A raccoon under your deck, a squirrel in your attic, or a deer in your yard is the property owner’s to deal with, and Hennepin County’s disposal guidance tells residents to arrange proper disposal rather than guess. That arranging part is us: 612-662-5070.
Can an animal that died inside a finished wall be reached?
Yes, when access the house already has reaches it — attic edges, soffits, chases, sill gaps, crawl hatches — and honestly when not. No finished wall, ceiling or plaster is cut. The odor gradient narrows down the spot; the operator recovers through the nearest real opening and treats the cavity once the animal is out. When an animal truly lies sealed behind a finished wall or ceiling, you get its most likely location and a straight explanation: a timeline and practical help with the smell, not a demolition quote.
What kinds of animals does this cover?
Squirrels, raccoons, rats and mice, and birds — plus opossums, rabbits, and deer on private ground. Not sure what died? That’s fine; a smell with no animal in sight is enough to start with. Describe what you’ve noticed and the operator will work it out with you on the call.
How is the price set?
By the situation. An open-yard removal is a different job from a recovery two floors up, so the operator asks where the animal is, how long it’s been there, and what access looks like — and quotes a clear price up front, before any work starts.
Which parts of Minneapolis do you cover?
The whole city — from the Northside and Camden down through Phillips, Seward, and Kingfield to Fulton and Armatage — plus the immediate surrounding metro. If the address is in or around Minneapolis, call and we’ll confirm on the spot.
Find out what can be done
One call reaches the operator covering your address: traced, removed where it can be reached without cutting, and the spot treated once it’s out.
Call 612-662-5070