Does Animal Control Remove Wildlife From a Home in Texas?
A referral line run by Local Core Group; it does no removal work. Prefer to write? Use the request form.
Animal control does not remove healthy wildlife from an attic in any of the five Texas cities read for this guide. City animal services turn that call away and answer a narrower set: a bite, a sick or injured animal, and in Houston an animal loose in the living space. Three of the five cities were read from dated archive copies, and each of those lines says so.
Does animal control remove wildlife from a home in Texas?
Not a healthy animal in the attic, in any of the five cities read. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth each leave that to the owner and a private company. Each still responds to some calls, and which ones differs by city.
What does each city say?
| City | Healthy animal in the attic | What the city does respond to | Page read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | BARC tells residents to call a licensed pest control company | A wild animal inside living areas, through 3-1-1 | Live, November 13, 2026 |
| Austin | Animal Services does not remove healthy native wildlife | Sick or injured wildlife, a bat on the ground, bites | Live, November 13, 2026 |
| Dallas | No officers sent to remove wildlife; the Dallas page recommends a private company | Sick, injured or dangerous wildlife, through 3-1-1 | Archive copy of September 28, 2026 |
| San Antonio | No pickup and no traps | A person or pet bitten or scratched by a wild animal | Archive copy of April 2, 2025 |
| Fort Worth | No pickup and no traps | High-risk rabies animals where a person or pet may have been exposed | Archive copy of May 3, 2026 |
The full city table gives each city’s line, with a link to its page.
Why is Houston different?
Houston draws its line at the living space. BARC takes a 3-1-1 call about a wild animal inside the living areas of a home, such as a bedroom. For a garage or an attic it tells residents to call a licensed pest control company, and it says it takes no requests about rodents or bat colonies.
BARC’s page also prints Houston City Code Section 6-6, which limits catching or impounding animals to police and animal control officers, approved humane organizations, and licensed employees of a licensed pest control service. This guide rests on the BARC page for that; the code itself has not been read.
Does a state agency remove wildlife from a house?
No state page read for this site says so. The Texas Parks and Wildlife FAQ points people with a nuisance wildlife question to the Texas Wildlife Services Program, whose number it gives as (210) 472-5451. For an injured or orphaned animal it points to permitted rehabilitators, listed county by county. The FAQ does not speak to an animal inside a home.
When should I call the city anyway?
After a bite, a scratch, or a bat that may have touched someone. Texas law has a bite or scratch that could pass rabies reported to the local rabies control authority (Health and Safety Code, Section 826.041), and the state health department says a bat found in a room with a sleeping person should be kept for testing. The bat removal page has those steps.
Who removes the animal, then?
A private operator the owner hires. Fort Worth says private companies in the city do this for a fee, and San Antonio tells residents they can look to private wildlife removal companies. This site passes a request to an independent operator where one works at the address; it names none and does no field work.
Questions
Does Dallas animal control trap raccoons?
Not healthy ones. As captured on September 28, 2026, the Dallas Animal Services page said the city does not trap healthy wildlife and does not send officers to remove it.
Is San Antonio’s answer current?
It may not be. The San Antonio page was read from an archive copy dated April 2, 2025, the newest copy available, because the live page blocks automated readers.
What this page rests on
Each link opens the page or statute a fact here came from, with the date it was read. A title that names an Internet Archive capture was read from that saved copy, not from the live page.
- Wild Animals in the City of HoustonCity of Houston, BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions
- If a Wild Animal is on Your PropertyCity of Houston, BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions
- WildlifeCity of Austin, Austin Animal Services
- Animal ProtectionCity of Austin, Austin Animal Services
- Wildlife (Internet Archive capture of September 28, 2026)City of Dallas, Dallas Animal Services
- Wildlife (Internet Archive capture of April 2, 2025)City of San Antonio, Animal Care Services
- Wild Animals (Internet Archive capture of May 3, 2026)City of Fort Worth, Code Compliance (Animal Care & Control)
- Hunting and Wildlife: General Questions (FAQ)Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Wildlife RehabilitationTexas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Health and Safety Code, Section 826.041 (reports of rabies)Texas Legislature (Texas Constitution and Statutes)
- Bat Exposure ScenariosTexas Department of State Health Services
How this page was checked
- Last checked
- , by Local Core Group, against the pages and statutes listed here
- Method
- How pages on this site are researched and written
- Sources
- One page lists everything the site relies on: all sources
This page is general information for Texans. It is not legal or medical advice and not an inspection of your house. Facts from state and city pages are restated in this site’s own words and linked; where a city page was read from a dated archive copy, the page says so. The operator who takes a job answers for following state and city rules.
Corrections. If a line here is wrong or a source has changed, name the page and the line through the contact form or call 512-434-0107. A correction that checks out against the source is made, and the page gets a new date.
Call about an animal in the house
Give the sound, the hour you hear it, the part of the house and your ZIP code. The request is passed to an independent operator where one works at that address; that operator inspects and gives the price.