Is it ok to eat an animal I found dead on the road?

Question

and when I say dead on the road, I don't mean the road outside my trailer either. For your information, I do not live in a trailer.

This is a serious question. Think about it, if the animal is already dead, then it can not feel any pain at that point. Is it ok to take it home and eat it?

How would that be cruelty to animals?

I do not mean dead, as in starting to turn ripe. I mean dead as in hit by a car. I would only take home freshly killed animals.

After reading the answers from everyone, I think it is safe to eat the animal. I am going to take a drive back up the road and hopefully it is still there. I hope no one else got it.

Answer 1

Disgusting why you would put it under this heading

Answer 2

I have been a vegetarian for 37 years. I see no problem with meat eaters eating an animal that has been hit by a car. In that way, the animal will not have died in vain, so to speak. However, there are certain things that would have to be taken into account, such as if it is within an hour of the animal's dying, that would be o.k., since the animal (I am assuming a deer) would have to be hung upside down and bled in order to make it fit for human consumption. Also, any badly bruised flesh could not be used. Any animal who is dead for over an hour should not be used for human food. I live in an area where using road kills for food is not at all uncommon, and I don't see anything wrong with it. I would rather see people eat this kind of meat than go out and shoot an animal.

Answer 3

Nope. For the moment you found the dead animal different kinds of insects will have already put their eggs on the animal's dead body. Also, there's no way to kno what was the reason why the animal died and how healthy it was.

If you the animal was killed by a car on the road and it's a very very cold day it could be fine, since the weather would have worked as a refrigerator.

By the way, there's not such a thing as cruelty to animals when it's about food. Thousands of cows, chicken and fish are sacrificed everyday to feed us. It would be cruel if the animal was killed just for fun (like those who find hunting a nice hobbie and don't even plan to eat the animal)

Answer 4

I would be careful of eating any roadkill. If you actually witnessed the animal being killed I'd say ok, you're probably safe in butchering it. But if you find it just laying along the roadside how are you going to know how it died? Sure It was probably struck by a vehicle, but you can't be 100% certain. It could have any number of diseases that caused the death. Even a disease that made it disoriented caused it to wander into traffic and be struck. You never know. As I said, I'd be very careful. If I didn't actually witness the animal being struck by a vehicle, I'd not touch it.

And there would be no "cruelty to animals" it's already dead!

Answer 5

poor lad
if your hungry i suggest going to a shelter or red cross homeless they will feed you.
As for animals if you have hit it in your car and it is a small critter such as a fescent the OK .but not rabbit as it may have myxomatosis.but any animal in the road you find no don't as insects would of started on the corps from the word go .the forensics lab can see how long a person has been dead by the insects that are on the body this is true for animals as well from a minute to hours
You also have to take into account the laws on large animals such as dear depending on the country you come from.
I WOULD NOT RISK IT

Answer 6

this question is not about being or talking about vegans nor vegetarians.

I see all of your questions are in the same category and some are about the subject- how is this question?

Are you just trying to see how many people answer absurd questions?

Even if the animal was run over- there are possibiities bacteria from the ground and birds etc would linger over it disguised so no it wouldn't be a great idea to take home a hit and run animal for supper..... You may catch something. In your case if you caught something it may be beneficial.

Answer 7

If you are broke, hungry and have not eaten for days then go ahead and have a bite. But if you are just trying to save some few bucks then don't eat it, because you don't know how the animal died and what sort of disease it had. Believe me, it will be wise of you if you spend a few bucks on fresh food rather than eating a roadkill. In the long run, you will be saving some medical expenses which you may have to inccur after contracting disease by eating the roadkill.

Answer 8

I was born in New York and move to a country part of Florida for school and it seemed like everyone that was from there loved what they call "ROAD KILL" like deer, possum, squirrels, coon also known as Raccoon ewe. Anyway I think only someone from the country or someone that has done it before can answer that question but I have seen it for my own eyes, but you really never know if that "ROAD KILL" has a disease so be careful. Good luck!

Answer 9

Can if you like, I've heard of other people eating roadkill. I would be worried about the state of the animal though and how healthy eating the meat would be, its hardly going to be as good for you as a piece of lamb or pork you get from the butcher. You dont know whether the animal/bird had any illnesses or disease after all, still its your decision mate.

Answer 10

Well, if you have a health certificate for the animal and could prove it did not died of rabies, leptospirosis, hookworm, various protozoans, various mycotic infections, botulism, shigella, E. coli, or about 400 hundred other possible disease, the flesh might be safe to eat, provided that the skin was removed in a hygienic manner and using aseptic technique. Since you apparently have the ability to get online, I must assume you have some intelligence, but you didn't display it in your question.

Answer 11

Its not cruel to do this, but consider this what if it ate anything that poisoned it, then it walked out into road drowsily then got hit. You come along and eat it, even if you witnessed it being hit, you still don`t know if it had just eaten any poison. Having said that, thats how people lived years ago I suppose, but why put yourself in danger when there is no need. Obviously you are`nt that poor as you have p.c. (no offence meant).