Who is Responsible?

[spotnnotfarm]

Yesterday I came across a disturbing situation. I was driving down a busy road and saw what I thought was a deer laying by the side of the road. As I got closer, I realized it was a horse. It was obviously deceased. It was in a busy location and I thought it was strange. I had to go by later, and decided to keep an eye out to see if it was buried/removed. When I drove by later in the day it was still there.

I called the local animal control and they told me it had been hit by a car the day before. They told me they were not responsible, since it was livestock, and to call the sheriffs office. I called the sheriffs office and they told me that they were not responsible and the Department of Transportation needed to remove it. They told me they had called them. The horse was apparently hit Saturday AM and was still there Sunday at 4:00 PM!!!

There is a post on FB about it and it appears no owner has been identified. I guess my question is who is really responsible for removing the horse? It seemed like the county government was just passing the buck.

[wsmoak]

Based on what the sheriff’s office said, I’m guessing it was not on a county road and they are correct that the state department of transportation is responsible. Most likely a work order has been entered, and it will get done when a suitable truck is available in the area. Very unfortunate, but it’s not really an emergency at this point.

[spotnnotfarm]

Thanks for the info. It is disturbing, but hopefully will be removed to day.

[steelerino]

I work for a county ACC in South Florida and we have a contract with an animal disposal company. If someone calls in a dead dog on the raod the call gets dispatched to them and we foot the bill.

[Garythesquirrel]

@steelerino

I work for a county ACC in South Florida and we have a contract with an animal disposal company. If someone calls in a dead dog on the raod the call gets dispatched to them and we foot the bill.

This is interesting. Where I live when a dead dog or cat is on the road animal control picks it up and takes it back to the shelter where it is scanned for a microchip and photographed. I believe the animal is kept in a freezer for a day or two to give the owner (if there is one) time to claim it before disposal.

[Libby2563]

@wsmoak

Based on what the sheriff’s office said, I’m guessing it was not on a county road and they are correct that the state department of transportation is responsible. Most likely a work order has been entered, and it will get done when a suitable truck is available in the area. Very unfortunate, but it’s not really an emergency at this point.

^ This. Even if it’s a county road, the county DOT would be responsible, not AC or the sheriffs. And unless OP lives where there are moose and other very large wildlife, the DOT is probably not well set up to dispose of carcasses larger than a deer. One person can drag a deer onto the disposal trailer, but a horse is going to take more effort, so it’s hardly surprising that it didn’t happen on a weekend.

[steelerino]

They do bring it here if its a small animal but a horse would go directly to the dump. I live in a large heavily populated county and we don’t have enough man power to be going out on dead animal calls.

[ThreeWishes]

A horse would require a winch I’d think. No way man power is getting a nearly 1000 animal in a dump truck. Thankfully the horses suffering is over. But I can understand how seeing one dead is upsetting. I wonder about the car that hit it. It was always my understanding that the owner of the horse if it was loose was liable for any damage or injury to the car and driver.

[spotnnotfarm]

The horse is partially covered with a tarp. From what I understand, it was a gorey wreck and the horse was hit pretty hard. So far, no owner has been identified, publicly at least. There is some debate about the person who hit the poor thing. Some say the driver left the scene, however, with the way the horse was hit, I am not sure that would be possible. Others are saying the car is really messed up. No word on the driver. I wish they had put a larger tarp or multiple tarps over it. I do not think it would be noticeable. It is so sad seeing it laying there. It appears to have a newer looking halter on

[spotnnotfarm]

I guess my surprise is that this was a rural area that is/becoming more suburbs. However, there are so many farms still around and people with backhoes/tractors. I guess it has a procedure to go through but I would have thought they could have gotten it handled faster. It is right next to the high school too. Hopefully, it has been removed by now…

[B_and_B]

Around here, a state road would be the state DOT, and as a non-emergency (it isn’t in the road), it will be an ‘urgent’ work order but not one requiring overtime. Least that is how it works in my state. As for why nobody has claimed it and taken care of it themselves…my guess is they don’t want the liability and are hoping that no one identifies them as the owner. Absent the owner coming forward, no one else would be allowed to take care of it without the state’s permission. (in my state of CT that is generally how it works for deer at least)

[horsepoor]

@B_and_B

As for why nobody has claimed it and taken care of it themselves…my guess is they don’t want the liability and are hoping that no one identifies them as the owner.

This was my thought as well.

Here, I believe it would be our county public works that would deal with the removal. Fat chance getting that done quickly. I had complained about them not plowing our main road during our last snow and a week later when it was melted away, they contacted me to let me know it would be done that day.

[Walk_N_Gal88]

That depends completely on the area actually! In Mississippi (granted this was 15 years ago) one of our neighbors had somebody cut her pasture fence ( it was malicious as they’d had a HUGE fight) and one of her herds got out and onto the highway behind her place. Two horses were hit and killed. The driver tried to go after her for the accident but MS is “open range” meaning horses have right of way always. The cops did find the jackass fence cutter though I don’t remember what the outcome was.

In TN, it would have been the owner’s responsibility. I think it’s the same in GA but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

[Ajierene]

In my experience, in my corner of the world, dead animals are either picked up by owners or left to rot - whether that be cat, dog, raccoon, deer, possum, fox, etc. I don’t know that anyone would call about a dead animal unless it was in the way of traffic. I have not seen a dead horse on the side of the road in my lifetime but I wouldn’t expect any more or less than with any other animal.

[clanter]

I suspect here there would be a revolution by the citizens calling/stopping by city hall until the dead animal was removed. A piece of paper on side of the road causes many calls for removal.

Being a small city of about three square miles If the horse had been a local horse more than one person would know whose it was.

[candyappy]

In our area the county is responsible. How hard is it for the sheriff to call a rendering company , for heavens sake??

[MsM]

Well, around here there is no rendering company.

[walktrot]

Eons ago, before we had to separate out the trash from the recyclables, garbage was garbage. The primary choices to get rid of it were to take it to the dump yourself or hire a garbage man. It was not a government function. Deceased animals were not left lying in the road. They were picked up by the first garbage man who saw them. You didn’t see dead animals lying there for days. That ended when garbage collection got more complicated.