Not for the Squeamish, I need some help

Factual Questions
1

I was out skimming a few leaves off of the pool today and noticed something on the bottom. On closer inspection it seems it is a dog. YUK!

I don’t know how long he’s been there but I have to assume he fell through the ice and couldn’t get out. We had a small amount of ice for about a week but its been gone for the last 4 or 5 days. Maybe he’s been there for a month, I wouldn’t have noticed.

What I need to know is what is going to happen when I pull him up (other than my losing my lunch in the backyard). Is this body going to break up? I don’t want parts in the pool. From what I can see there doesn’t seem to be any decomposition or bloating but its 6 feet down. My first plan was to pretend I didn’t see anything, my next plan is to possibly hook his collar with a rake and get him over to the spa which is only in 18” of water this time of year.

What the hell do I do with it once its out of the water? Not easy digging this time of year and it looks like maybe about a 50 pound animal.

I guess its some neighborhood dog and the tags if any will reveal to whom it belongs. I’m sure the owner will wish to know the fate of their pet but how much detail do I give?

I am so grossed out right now but I have to deal with this.

2

If you’re in the U.S., call Animal Control and let them deal with it.

3

Absolutely, call animal control and have them come “fish” it out of the pool.

4

before you call animal control be 100% sure its an animal. did you poke it? prod it? move it closer to the surface to be sure?

6 feet of dirty pool water could make an old coat look like a dog and you would feel pretty silly calling animal control to fish a coat out of your pool.

5

And the coat probably wouldn’t have any tags either, making it harder to find the owner.

6

Call Animal Control. If it’s an old coat, it won’t be the first time for them. Personally, I’d rather fill in the pool or sell the house than deal first-hand with something like that. Especially if it’s gonna fall apart. Good luck.

7

The first thing you should do is attempt CPR.

8

Check the community mailbox or telephone poles in your areas for a flyer about it being missing. Someone’s probably looking for the coat, maybe even some really sad children.

9

Then take one of the flyers and draw a map on the back leading to your pool and stuff it in their mailbox. Problem solved.

10

In some areas, like Los Angeles, the bureau of sanitation does dead animal pickup.

11

Man - how long do you run the filter after something like that?

12

If you are in an area without animal control services (like many small towns), many veterinary practices will take animal remains for disposal, although there would typically be a charge.

13

Can you release a few piranhas in the pool?

14

Maybe it would help if we knew your location?

What? Just sayin’.

15

I immediately jumped on the idea of calling animal control and putting this off on some one else but they just laughed at me. Not that they were against dealing with something like this but were decidedly against driving all the way out to where I live.

My latest scheme is to drop a 6’ x 6’ tarp on to the bottom and just move it on to the tarp. From there I can draw up the corners and haul it out.

I think I can deal with pretty much anything that happens as long as I can have a reasonable expectation of what may occur. Do we have any forensic CSI types in the house? Surely there are some EMTs or some one who’s hauled a body out of a lake or something.

Disgusting
Leaffan: I wish I were in Canada but I’m in southern Pennsylvania.

16

That won’t work - the tarp won’t allow water to pass through it and you’ll be trying to pick up a massive chunk of water, and as it spills out of the edges of the tarp, it might well wash the dog (or whatever it is) off the edge.

A piece of strong net with a fairly fine mesh would be much better - but have the tarp ready on dry land, perhaps draped over the side of the pool, to haul it out onto.

Are you planning to drain and refill the pool after this?

17

Were they at least decent enough to let you know what to do with the carcass, or will you be faced wit the options of digging a hole somewhere to bury it, or to double-bag it and put it in the trash can?

At least it’s cold, so decomposition and odors should be minimal.

18

Are you familiar with bobbing for apples?

19

You may have to call your local pool man to take care of it. He’s probably dealt with this scenario many times. Do it fast though…although it is cold, you don’t know how long it will take before that thing begins to decompose.

20

I’m not surprised animal control laughed at you. At least the department I worked for had pretty strict limits under local ordinance of what they could and could not deal with; unless a dead animal was either needed for autopsy or was bagged up as kibble, animal control had nothing to do with it.

I’m no CSI, so I can’t help, but what you might want to do is check your yellow pages under “carcass removal services” or “pest control services” or “animal removal services” or the like. When you get someone on the phone, you can ask them for advice.

Daniel