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City of Livonia: Dead deer on private property must be handled by homeowners
"It turns out – if it's on your private land they won't come collect it, but if it's on city property, they will," said Livonia resident, Laura Engelland.
LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2 ) - A Birmingham woman found herself dealing with a dead deer in her backyard on New Year's Eve.
The deer, whose cause of death is unknown, had a broken antler but no apparent wounds, said the resident, Laura Engelland.
"It turns out – if it's on your private land (the city) won't come collect it, but if it's on city property, they will," Engelland said. "So we helped drag the poor guy to the street."
Last year, SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments conducted a survey to see if residents saw an increase in the deer population in the last three years. About 13,500 people responded – 60% said yes to seeing more deer.
The issue of dead deer in yards has become a common one. To address this, the City of Livonia recently released a memo emphasizing that homeowners are responsible for managing the disposal of deer carcasses found on their property – which aligns with the policies of many other municipalities.
As a result, Gary Cornellier with Respectful Removal LLC found his niche. He disposes of dead deer for a living.
"It's increasing," Cornellier said. "I would be driving along the road like you do, and I'd see an animal along the road, and it would disturb me and I'd call many calls… and there was no one that really was specialized in doing that."
For 10 years, Cornellier has been removing the carcasses himself – and he’s busier than ever.
"(Customers) say they’ve made numerous calls, and then they got my number and I’ll help them through the process," he said.
After loading up the deer, Cornellier disposes them in a landfill in Lake Orion.
Decapitated deer head left in pick-up truck in Eastpointe, disturbing neighbors
While the deer head is disturbing neighbors, police said no laws are being broken.