Is this illegal?

I work at a restaurant in an unincorporated rural town. Yesterday after work I'd only driven two blocks when two beautiful deer, lost and disoriented came running down the middle of the street toward me. I turned around and followed them hoping to slow down traffic. They were literally running in circles before finding their way home. Unfortunately getting back to the wooded area where they lived, meant crossing a busy road where I couldn't do anything to help them. Terrified they ran blindly across four lanes of traffic trying to get across. To my horror the Mother deer made it but her fawn was struck by an SUV just as he reached the sidewalk.

Jumping out of my car I ran over to see if he could be saved. Sadly those beautiful brown eyes only seconds ago so full of fear, were now glazed over as he lie deathly still. Surprised by the lack of blood, I clung to the hope he was merely stunned and stayed with him until I knew otherwise.

Standing there I watched as the man in the SUV make a U turn and disappeared up the driveway of a nearby apartment complex. Lurking there, he inched his way out until he saw me looking at him, then backed up out of sight again.

After several minutes I rushed back to the restaurant and called animal control to pick up the body. I was so distraught, I didn't even think to use the cell phone tucked away in my purse. I wasn't gone more then five minutes, but when I got back the deer wasn't there.

All the other cars managed to avoid hitting the deer and there's no way this man couldn't have seen them crossing the three lanes to his right. I strongly suspect he hit the deer on purpose, slowing down just enough not cause too much damage, then when nobody was watching, snatched him up for meat!

My husband said I should have got his license number and called the police because taking the dead deer is considered poaching and against the law.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about the man.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"
M. Gandi










[edit on 2/25/2007 by dollmonster]

Some states have laws against hitting animals and just leaving, others don't. I remember my mother saying that when she lived in California, I believe it was, that it was illegal to hit an animal and drive away without rendering aid.

I know in Tennessee it is 100% legal to take a deer you hit with your car.

You have to make sure you take it to a state game office to get weighed and measured first though. When I was stationed at Ft Campbell, I remember a few times when someone hit a deer and than had a kickass beer and bbq party that night behind the barracks.

Found on www.ecerything2.com

f you do hit the deer without getting hurt yourself, stop and take a look at the deer. If it is injured but alive, the kindest thing to do is to put it out of its misery. If you can't bring yourself to do that, go to the next step, which is calling the police to file a report (so your insurance will be happy). In some states, the person who hits a deer is allowed to keep it, so if you're a venison eater, this is worth checking into (I don't advise running over deer for the purpose of eating them - not only is it really, really mean, but it's kind of expensive in car repairs, too).

[edit on 25-2-2007 by Avew153]

.....


deleted by me.



[edit on 2/25/2007 by Mechanic 32]

Some states have made it legal to take an animal, killed by a vehicle, for personal use.
They called it the "RoadKill Law" or something along those lines lol

Mechanic, I also noticed the two different versions of her story.
Also, what would be the point of reporting him for not rendering aid?
what can you do, move them off the road? its a wild animal and just because it crossed your path and you hit it, you cant be expected to rush it to a vet.

[edit on 25-2-2007 by Kr0n0s]

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Mechanic, I also noticed the two different versions of her story.

I just realised that that was more or less a non-issue, so I deleted my post.

I hadn't realised that this was in SkunkWorks:

Free and open wild conspiracy theory speculation on any topic or event

So the point I brought up in my orignal post is basically moot, imo.

[edit on 2/25/2007 by Mechanic 32]

Originally posted by dollmonster
All the other cars managed to avoid hitting the deer and there's no way this man couldn't have seen them crossing the three lanes to his right. I strongly suspect he hit the deer on purpose, slowing down just enough not cause too much damage, then when nobody was watching, snatched him up for meat!

If he had to slow down and time it just right to hit the deer he must have been pretty hungry. Also if there was traffic in the area, he could have caused an accident and possibly killed himself or someone else if he had swerved to miss it.

It is a sad thing to see so many animals hit and killed by cars, but our space and their space is overlapping so we see more and more of it.

[

If he had to slow down and time it just right to hit the deer he must have been pretty hungry. Also if there was traffic in the area, he could have caused an accident and possibly killed himself or someone else if he had swerved to miss it.

.

Looking back I realize how stupid it was for me to think the man purposely hit the deer. At what possible cost? But when it comes to animals I admit I'm hopelessly jaded. As An animal rights activist, I've seen too much cruelty toward animals.

I manage my pain through writing about it. Venting in this way is extremely therapeutic for me. Sorry if I've indulged myself at your expense. I really did want to know about the poaching thing though.

And yes, I accidentally sent my post before deleting the first version. I always write things over and over until I'm satisfied. I sure feel exposed now.

if you have to ask it probably is

actually, you will be surprized at what some people are willing to do to get what they want......

off hand I would say that it is a possiblity that the deer was hit on purpose for food, using an old car.

The Law should be changed so that it would be illegal to take roadkill home for food. Instead it should be reported and moved to the side of the road for the authorities to pick up and transported to the zoo as food for some of the animals.

This way, it would make it more difficult for some weird people who would otherwise runover an animal in their old vehicle to experience a kill and have free meat afterwards.