LAKE COUNTY >> County resident Kelly Anderegg, who lives just outside the Lakeport city limits, found the body of a dead deer laying on the shoreline by her home, right over a seawall that divides her house and the lake. She is now trying to find out who can properly remove the carcass from the area after reaching several dead ends when contacting organizations whom she thought would be responsible for helping.
Anderegg spent the day calling various agencies and organizations including U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Animal Care and Control, the County and the City of Lakeport but found her calls getting transferred from one call to another.
“This case, being on the lake, is very specific,” said Water Resources Director Phillip Moy. That’s because there are specific regulations and procedures as to who can pick up a dead animal and from where. The County and its agencies, for example, as Anderegg believed, does not handle dead animal removals.
According to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report, Lake County Animal Care and Control (LACC), “is not responsible for removing dead animals from roadways.” Rather, deceased animals may be brought to the shelter for a fee of $15 for animals 100 pounds or less and $30 for animals over 100 pounds. The Report then suggests agencies that do handle these cases but with limitations. That is, for example, Lake County Public Works Department, Lake County Waste Solutions, and Southlake Refuse can pick up any dead animal at no charge if the animal is on a county road only. Cal Trans is responsible of the carcass if it is found “on the right-of-way of a county road.” Lake Disposal is listed under the agency responsible for the City of Lakeport’s dead animal disposal under the Lake County web page. An option for a private property pick up is also available.
Anderegg’s home address is under Lakeport, so she decided to call agencies serving the City. When explained that her property sits just outside Lakeport, she had to reach out to other organizations like Cal Trans.
“They told me the animal has to be on the road in order for them to pick it up. I’m an older lady; I can’t go and pick up this large animal. Do I just drag it to the road?” Anderegg said.
That might just be the case in some counties. In Butte County, under the county’s Public Health website, there are three options people can follow if a dead wildlife is found on private property: “bury the animal, double bag it and put it in the trash, or put the carcass along the road, and call us for pickup. We must be able to drive up to the carcass.” This only applies to animals that are not bats, skunks, raccoons, or foxes as handling cases with these species require extra care and the possibility of testing the dead animal for rabies.
“We have deer here all the time. This can’t be the only time this has happened. Someone should be able to come and pick up a large dead animal on the water,” said Anderegg. On the second day since the animal was spotted by Anderegg and her husband, she said she is looking into paying a fee to have the animal removed by an independent agency — perhaps her only option at this point.
