Bio-One of Savannah decontamination and biohazard cleaning services

A Step-by-Step Guide to Animal Clean Ups

Pets help bring joy and laughter into our homes. They provide us with love and companionship when we need it the most in life. Studies show that humans enjoy a wide range of physical and mental health benefits from owning a pet, including lower blood pressure and stress levels.

Unfortunately, very few animals have the same lifespan as humans. The animals that do, like elephants, do not make for practical pets! Most of us will outlive several pets during our lifetimes. And parting with a beloved pet dog or cat is a terrible experience in life.

Some pets get a humane death through euthanasia at the vet’s office. But many others die at home and often leave a mess that can be hard to handle. If you have lost a pet under distressing circumstances and need help cleaning the pet's waste, we are here.

BioOne Savannah combines professional excellence with a compassionate and humane approach to provide fast, efficient, and discreet animal clean-ups – give us a call today for a free quote.

What is a Pet Clean-up?

Pet clean-up is a relatively broad and generic term that can include many services. For instance, some businesses offer dedicated cleaning services for removing dog poop – also called a pooper scooper service. Under contract with owners, breeders, or residential organizations, pooper scoopers will come and clean yards, streets, and other public spaces regularly.

Some firms provide clean-up services when pets, smaller wild animals, or farm animals like cows and horses die on your property. Private firms and municipal agencies can be asked to come and pick up and dispose of the dead bodies. They do not generally provide advanced cleaning services.

For that, you can rely on services from companies like Bio-One Savannah. We provide specialized cleaning and bio-waste disposal services to homeowners and business establishments. If a pet animal/wild animal has died on your premises under any unfortunate circumstances, we are the ones you need to call.

Why Do Pet Parents Require Professional Clean-up Services?

The death of a pet at home brings a unique set of challenges to pet owners. Animals are more likely to leave a lot of waste and biological residues in their surroundings when they die. This can include blood, saliva, waste matter, and other bodily fluids. Engaging the services of a professional cleaning company will give you the following benefits:

Avoid a Traumatic Experience

It's normal to feel distraught and depressed after the death of a beloved pet who has been a loyal companion for years. Removing pet waste and cleaning up the mess left behind by that pet will only add to the trauma.

This is needless additional pain that you don’t have to carry. When you hire Bio-One for your pet cleanup, our trained professionals will handle every aspect of cleaning and disinfecting the affected areas in your home. Our compassionate approach allows you to grieve your loss and come to terms with it at your own pace.

Thorough and Efficient Cleanup

Kidney failure, cancers, and Lyme disease are among the most common causes of death in pets most common causes of death. In their advanced stages, these conditions can affect a pet’s ability to control when and where they empty their bowels and bladders.

Naturally, this can build up waste materials and their traces in your home. Bio-One cleaning specialists are equipped to thoroughly clean up all the affected rooms and areas in your home. We remove all traces of pet waste, so you get back relatively return to your clean and healthy home.

Remove Stains and Toxins

Sick and dying animals often mess up your home's carpets, furniture, and other expensive fixtures. Apart from unsightly stains and bad odors, pet waste on these surfaces may also carry deadly germs and toxins that can affect your kids and any surviving pets.

You need specialized chemicals with advanced cleaning and deodorizing properties to effectively tackle the mess left by animal secretions and body fluids on your carpet and other surfaces. Bio-One specialists can help you avoid throwing away your carpets and give them a new lease on life.

Deal With Decomposing Animals

Wild/feral animals often die in hidden nooks of your home, like the attic or crawlspace. It is not unusual for sick or injured dogs and cats to follow the same instinct when they feel they are close to death. In such situations, pet parents often assume their pets are missing or lost.

You only recognize the reality when the dead body starts to decompose and give off foul odors. Experts best handle this unpleasant situation with the equipment and training to handle the putrescent and decomposing biological waste.

Decontaminate Your Yard and Premises

Bacterial infections like salmonellosis, psittacosis, and Lyme disease are prevalent among dogs, cats, and other domestic animals across the United States. There is also the risk posed by parasites such as hookworms and roundworms. As they age, dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals become vulnerable to infections.

Humans can catch many of these zoonotic diseases from their pets. Suppose any of these illnesses contributed to the demise of your pet. In that case, you should hire a professional, medical-grade cleaning service to decontaminate all exposed areas, indoors and outdoor areas like patios/yards.

Deal with Hoarding Situation

Hoarding is a mental disorder where people have difficulty discarding items and end up with an often unsanitary living condition with piles of waste. In animal hoarding, the person may have more pets than they can handle.

Such homes often have improperly disposed of animal remains. Suppose any of your relatives suffer from this. In that case, you will need to call in experts who can handle the removal of animal waste and any contaminating substances and make the premises liveable again.

What is “Pet Waste”?

Pet waste, also called animal waste if the source is a wild/feral animal, can include many things. From a professional cleaning perspective, pet waste or animal waste includes the following:

The Remains

In the event of a pet death, owners are required to dispose of the body in a manner that does not affect public health and sanitation in any negative way. Backyard burial is never a decent option for a variety of reasons. It's also not practical in the case of larger pets like dogs.

At most locations, local community/municipal sanitation services will pick up animals that end up dead on the streets and public areas. A humane and compassionate pet waste removal and cleaning service like Bio-One is the best option for pets that die at home.

Due to special circumstances, you may discover your pets remains several days after death. This can happen if the pet goes missing and ends up inside your walls, chimneys, or attic. When decomposed remains are involved, professional bio-waste handling services are recommended.

They are also highly recommended if you deal with wild animal carcasses on your property. Unlike domestic animals, wild animals are not vaccinated and often carry deadly diseases like rabies. You should never touch or handle the dead bodies of such animals.

Blood and Stains

Bleeding or blood in vomit/feces is a common side effect in advanced and terminal-stage diseases like cancers. Your floor, furniture, clothes, and carpets may be covered with residual blood or stains.

A dog or cat can also die due to unfortunate accidents and physical injury that causes heavy bleeding. If splatters or pools of blood are on your premises, it can be deeply unsettling for family members, especially young children.

Bleeding is also very common if your pet succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack by another pet dog or a wild/feral animal like a coyote. Cats are often at risk of such attacks since they roam around the neighborhood.

Pee, Poop, and Other Bodily Fluids

Waste materials like pee and poop are far more common than blood stains in cases of pet death. Most pets die at home due to old-age-related illnesses or infectious diseases. Aged animals usually suffer from a lack of bladder and bowel control.

Sickness can also increase the severity of this condition. As a result, you may have to frequently clean up such animal waste during the treatment period. Despite your best efforts, there is a chance of persistent orders and stains inside the home when there is a sick pet.

After they have passed away, you deserve a clean and healthy home devoid of off-smells stains and residues in corners, grooves, and other surfaces. This can only be achieved with the help of professional decontamination and cleaning services like Bio-One Savannah.

Pet Hair/Fur

Numerous breeds of cats and dogs have long/medium-length coats and luxurious furs. Some other pets, like rabbits, also have fur that can get everywhere. Most pet parents can handle the shedding fur with normal cleaning processes.

While most healthy animals shed on a seasonal basis, abnormal shedding often happens when they get old or sick. This is why the rooms and surfaces frequented by a recently dead pet often have vast amounts of hair/fur.

Further, you cannot discount the risk of fleas and ticks. While healthy pets respond positively to parasite control measures, many of these cannot be applied to severely ill animals. So in the final stages of their lives, some pets may harbor ticks or fleas, which can spread disease to humans.

Due to the risk of infection, your best bet is to leave the removal of any fur and hair in the hands of professionals after the death of your beloved pet. Bio-One experts will remove all traces of fur and hairs since they are potent allergens and may carry pathogens/parasites from the dead animal.   

Odors

While physical waste materials are easier to collect and remove, that does not guarantee that your house is in clean and livable condition. Due to ventilation challenges, foul odors from pee, poop, and dead organic materials can linger for a long time.

In extreme cases, where an animal dies unknown to you in the attic or under the floorboards, the stench from the rotting body can make the house virtually unlivable. You need industrial or medical-grade deodorizing techniques and chemicals to remove the smells safely.

How Does the Cleanup Process Work

Here at Bio-One, we follow a highly scientific procedure in our clean-up efforts. Animal cleanup situations can vary widely. Our experts assess the unique variables involved – the species and size of the dead pet, location of the remains, presence of fecal matter, possible presence of blood/fluids, the stage of decomposition, and more – before executing a customized cleaning process for best results.

That said, after the initial assessment, the basic process of removing pet waste has the following steps:

Removal of the Body

As the primary source of the odors and infection risk, we prioritize removing and securing the pet body for safe disposal. Our experts wear protective gloves, masks, and OSHA-mandated bio-security gear before touching and handling the remains.

The job is much easier when the owner calls us promptly after the death has occurred. This is vital since putrefaction and decay can start within a few hours, particularly in the hot, humid, sub-tropical Georgian climate.

Suppose the body is in an advanced stage of decomposition or hidden behind a wall or ceiling. In that case, we will first pinpoint the location and try to gain access by reasonable means while causing minimal property damage. The remains are then sealed in bio-hazard bags and taken for incineration.

Removal of Fur and Debris

If the animal belonged to a long-haired breed, our professionals would use powerful vacuum cleaners and other specialized equipment to capture and remove pet hair/fur, debris, and associated pet waste sticking to the floor, walls, and any other surfaces inside your home, including furniture.

Removal of Urine, Feces, and Blood  

Cleaning of such bodily fluids and blood requires specialized training and equipment. Our certified experts identify the locations that need thorough cleaning and start by removing all visible traces of a pet's waster. Using modern techniques, we look for hidden blood and bodily fluid hints on carpet/furniture/tiles.

All affected surfaces are treated with hydrogen peroxide and other chemical formulations designed to break down organic matter, kill germs, and render a space safe and disinfected. We take special care when treating your valuable furniture and carpets to prevent severe damage during this process.

Stain and Odor Removal

The final step is to remove any visible odor traces of the pet's death from your home. Stains are usually removed during the spot-cleaning process, where we remove all the pet waste. Persistent stains may require special treatment.

The first step in odor control is removing the source from the premises. This, followed by thoroughly cleaning all affected surfaces, will reduce the intensity of the smells in the air. But to eliminate the smell, we apply a safe deodorant agent across all surfaces.

Call Bio-One Savannah for an Efficient Pet Waste Removal Service

At the end of our cleaning and pet removal process, you will get a clean, spotless, stainless, and odorless space that is safe for your entire family, including kids and infants.

With our high-quality pet waste removal service, you can move on with your grieving process for the departed pet without getting bogged down with the mundane but essential aspects of cleaning and odor removal.

For a professional pet cleanup and pet waste removal service rooted in compassion and humane behavior, you can rely on our experts at Bio-One Savannah. If you have suffered the death of a beloved pet in the family, call us today for a free quote or schedule a visit.


Animal hoarding occurs in communities across the U.S. and researchers estimate that hoarding accounts for the suffering and death of over 250,000 animals each year. For instance, if you search the news section on Google for “Animal Hoarding” you will find recent stories all over the U.S. 

Most recently, we’ve seen:

These dire conditions cause immense suffering for both animals and people, while overwhelming local animal shelters. So how can you help? The first step, is education. 

In this post, we’ll answer and provide resources to common animal hoarding questions. 

What is considered animal hoarding?

According to the ASPCA, the following criteria are used to define animal hoarding:

  • An individual possesses more than the typical number of companion animals.
  • The individual is unable to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness and death.
  • The individual is in denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household and human occupants of the dwelling.

What causes animal hoarding?

Often, the behavior of animal hoarding begins after an illness, disability, or difficult life event. In most situations, the owner sees the animals as a major source of love, and they have the best of intentions of caring for their animals. However, overtime they become overwhelmed and unable to make decisions which leads to unintentional neglect or abuse. 

The Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) states that hoarders also have an intense emotional attachment to their animals. They avoid the pain of letting go of things that seem very special, even when clutter prevents comfortable living. Like object hoarders, animal hoarders believe that things should be saved for some special event, even if the event never happens. They imagine the wonderful way in which they will heal love, and nurture their pets, while overlooking the terrible effects of having too many of them. 

“The sometimes hundreds of dog or cat victims of a single hoarder generally show signs of abuse such as severe malnutrition, untreated medical conditions including open sores, cancers, and advanced dental and eye diseases, and severe psychological distress.” - Animal Legal Defense Fund

Who is most likely to hoard animals?

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium reviewed the case records of 71 incidents from across the United States and Canada to determine what characterizes a typical animal hoarding case. Of the cases reviewed, here’s what they discovered:

  • 83% involved women
  • 53% of the animal hoarding residences were home to other individuals including children (5%)
  • 21% were elderly dependents and disabled people 

There are also commonalities in the living environment. Often essential utilities and major appliances such as showers, heaters, stoves, toilets, and sinks were not functional. 70% of the homes had fire hazards and 16% of the residences were condemned as unfit for human habitation.

At Bio-One, the circumstances as described in the research findings above are common for our teams. Animal waste can be unsafe when not properly contained and regularly cleaned, as well as human urine and feces. Learn more about Bio-One’s hoarding services. 

What happens to animals after they are rescued?

Sue Marue the founder of the Arizona based cat rescue Ark Cat Sanctuaryspoke with our Bio-One Mesa, AZ team and said:

We have taken in dozens and dozens of cats from all over Arizona that have been rescued from hoarders. The lucky ones can be up for adoption within weeks. But for some, they will never be ready for adoption and will live out their days at Ark or we cannot save them because they are just too sick. We have one little tabby that we rescued from a hoarder in Phoenix over a year ago that just last week allowed us to pet her and love her. Sometimes it takes that long. The problem with that is most rescues cannot take a year for an animal to come around. They don't have that kind of space or time. It isn't their fault, it is just how it is. We deal with overpopulation, under-funding and just not enough help. Unfortunately, it’s the animals that suffer. 

Bio-One animal hoarding case study

In a 2018 blog post, the Bio-One team in Orlando described circumstances that led their team to remediating an animal hoarding situation:

“Bio-One cleaned out a home in Polk County, Florida, when a Hoarder was discovered by pure coincidence. The Hoarder was to be evicted from the rental property due to nonpayment. The local Sherriff's office came to evict him from the property and this was when the situation of Hoarding was discovered. He had been hoarding many dogs within the home and living in deplorable conditions. Animal Control came out and confiscated the animals. The Hoarder was taken into custody at the moment of discovery. The whole situation was incredibly sad and ultimately could have been avoided...”

Read the entire story on their blog

How Can You Help?

The most immediate ways to make in impact in your community is to contact your local animal rescue to make a donation or volunteer your time. Also, if you see an animal in distress, contact your local authorities.

If you think someone you know is struggling with animal hoarding, ASPCA.org lists important steps to ensure the animals are quickly helped and the hoarder receives the support they require.