Virginia, private property
Dead Raccoon Removal
VDH's fact sheet lists raccoons, skunks and foxes as the wild animals most often diagnosed with rabies in Virginia, and a March 2026 VDH release about a rabid raccoon advises people not to handle sick, injured or dead animals.
Before you pay anyone. Decide whether anyone or anything touched it. VDH's rabies page says that after a bite you should wash the wound, notify a doctor and report to the local health department, and Va. Code Β§ 3.2-6522(C) requires anyone who knows of a suspected-rabid animal that may have exposed someone to report it to the local health department. If a person was bitten or touched it, ask your doctor and the local health department before you call anyone about removal. For a pet, ask a vet or animal control.
What this covers
- A raccoon lying in a yard, a flower bed or beside a shed
- A raccoon found dead on a patio, a porch or a driveway
- A raccoon lying in an accessible spot such as a garage floor
- A raccoon on a deck or in a crawl space that someone can reach without cutting anything open
Where the limit is
A raccoon that is alive, sick or trapped, which is a wildlife-control matter and not a carcass job. Trapping, relocating or sealing animals out. A carcass inside a closed wall, which we treat as information only. A raccoon on a public road, where VDOT or the locality is the contact.
Arlington County's Animal Control page lists a dead raccoon among the animals it picks up and states no location limit. Fairfax County's Animal Protection Police says it does not pick up deceased animals on public or private property unless rabies is suspected. Those two published positions differ, so the address decides what is available.
This page gives no timeline for removal. Whether an operator covers your address and when anyone could come is worked out on the call.
How a call goes
- Say where the raccoon is lying and whether it is reachable without moving anything.
- Say whether a person or a pet touched it, since that goes to the health department first.
- Where an operator covers the address, ask how they bag and dispose of it under your city or county's rules.
Questions about this animal
Should I pick up a dead raccoon with gloves?
VDH advises against handling it at all. Its March 2026 news release says: do not handle sick, injured or dead animals, and report them to the Department of Wildlife Resources. We do not give medical advice, so ask your local health department if you have already touched it.
Does a dead raccoon have to be tested for rabies?
We found no Virginia rule that tests every dead raccoon. Under Β§ 3.2-6522, testing follows an exposure: when an animal that may have exposed a person to rabies dies of illness or euthanasia during an observation period or a public-health investigation, its head or brain goes to the state laboratory or is tested as the local health department directs.
Does DWR's permit cover raccoon removal from a yard?
DWR's Commercial Nuisance Animal Permit conditions say it also permits removing certain animal carcasses from private property, and condition I.I.7 covers wildlife found dead on a homeowner's property. We read no DWR text saying a carcass remover must hold one, and we do not say any operator on this site does.
Not sure this is the right page? Who removes a dead animal in Virginia works through the public and private split, and the locations page sets out what the larger counties and cities publish.