Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance he gives on procedures to be followed by highways authorities and police forces with respect to the identification of deceased animals on the road network.

No specific guidance has been provided on this subject.

Section 7.17 of the Highways Agency’s Net­work Man­age­ment Man­ual (NMM) - http://www.dft.gov.uk/ha/standards/nmm_rwsc/docs/nmm_part_7a.pdf - describes processes that must be followed when canine remains are found on the strategic road network although it does also recognise that it is impossible to guarantee that remains can be fully identified due to the high speed nature of the Agency’s roads.

Local highway authorities also remove dead animals from all roads and public spaces for which they are responsible. This includes wild animals such as badgers, foxes, and deer along with domestic pets such as cats and dogs. If pets are found, authorities try to identify the owners if the pet has a collar or microchip.