Two-man team on 24-hour call
Thousands of animals, from tiny mice to adult deer, meet their end on Louisville's roadways each year. And thousands of pets die in homes or must be put down by veterinarians. The unpleasant task of collecting and disposing of the remains most often falls to the hands of two men who make up the Dead Animal Removal team within the Solid Waste Division of Metro Public Works.
Lerondrick Crenshaw, on the right in the photo above, has been doing the job for sixteen years. Partner Kenneth Hammon joined the team about five years ago. They start each day at 7 a.m. with a list of animals that have been called in, "and along the way (if) we see something we just pick it up," Crenshaw told The Works Week. The rest of the day is spent patrolling Jefferson County in a refrigerator truck in search of carcasses.
Autumn, when deer are on the move for mating season, especially November, is the busiest time of the year. Don't think doing the job everyday turns off the normal reactions to what they see. Hammon said "I'm just kind of squeamish when you see the baby deer coming out of its mother (and) they're both dead." The team picks up a dozen or more deer a day during the height of rutting season. The hot spots are Hurstbourne Lane, U.S 42 and River Road.
The job demands sensitivity when picking up deceased pets in the presence of their owners. "We'll let them go ahead and get their tears out before we pick them up," Crenshaw said. "And they'll want you to open the door one last time." Hammon added, "So I try to be real careful how I throw it in the back of that truck."
The team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They've even picked up the occasional horse. While fall is the busiest time of year, summer is easily the worst time, they said. Especially when the freezer breaks but the job of collecting dead animals continues. "That aroma will put you in a different spot," Hammon said.
The Dead Animal Removal service is available throughout Jefferson County, including all municipalities and unincorporated areas. Requests should be made through MetroCall at 311 or 574-5000. Animals on interstate highways are handled separately by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and should be reported there at 502-210-5400
or kytc.district5info@ky.gov. Situations posing an immediate threat to public safety should be called into 911.
 While leaf drop-off service ends
this Saturday, December 2 at two locations, it has been extended an additional
week to December 9 at a third location. Metro residents not mulching autumn leaves into
their lawns or using curbside collection have the option through December 9 to
dispose of them at the Public Works Waste Reduction Center:
Public Works Waste Reduction
Center
636 Meriwether Avenue
Tuesday – Friday: 9 a.m. –
5 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Only loose leaves will be
accepted. Containers used to bring leaves to the drop-off sites must be
disposed of off-site by residents.
Tomorrow, December 2, is the last
day for leaf drop off at these two sites:
Public Works Yard
10500 Lower River Road (enter from Bethany Lane)
Saturday
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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 The picture here is of the red pickup truck being used to illegally dump bags of household trash at the Newburg Community Center on November 1, 2017. The Solid Waste Enforcement team tracked the vehicle down this week and had it impounded. The vehicle owner was fined $500 and faced with impound and storage fees of approximately $250.
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 The Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet District 5 has announced that lane closures will begin
on Dixie Highway next week as crews begin preparations for construction on the
New Dixie Highway Project in 2018.
Work is
scheduled to begin on Monday, Dec. 4 with milling of some raised medians
between Greenwood Road and Heaton Road (mile markers 11.7 to 14.5) to
accommodate upcoming traffic shifts. Learn more here.
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