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My dog dug up a dead dog's remains. Is my dog safe? What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | neutered | 6 years and 7 months old | 15 lbs

My dog had died a year ago from and my dog dug up the dead dog today I’m really concerned and I would like to know what to do.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 8th, 2017

I'm sure it was sad to see your old dog's remains get dug up, but I would not be too concerned. A year is a good enough time for the body to decompose and is usually not carrying as much infectious organisms as a newly deceased body would. Dogs are also very tolerant of bacteria and other infectious organisms, because they were meant to scavenge. Dogs eat dead and decaying things all the time and are usually not negatively affected by them. If it was going to cause a problem, then it would most likely only be a problem within the digestive tract. You would notice vomiting and diarrhea if this were the case. Diarrhea is usually self-limiting (will go away on its own), but if Biscuit has any of the following, the he should see a vet: 1) Blood in diarrhea 2) Very watery diarrhea 3) Dog starts acting very depressed 4) Dog stops eating or drinking for longer than 24 hours. 5) Diarrhea lasts longer than three days. I hope that helps and all is well with Biscuit.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on

    I am not really sure what things you are concerned about. A year-old dead body is unlikely to cause illness in your alive dog. It sounds like a horrible coincidence that this happened a full year ago, but I think it is purely coincidence and I would not be worried about this. I would recommend that you re-bury your dead dog in a place where your current dog does not have access to. You may have to bury deeper than the previous grave and then place stones over the dirt to prevent additional digging by dogs or other scavengers.

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