The question of why the chicken crossed the road is secondary to who would get its carcass if it were killed while crossing the road.
It has long been a rule in much of the country that the government must keep dead animals. State law prohibits drivers from claiming to use the meat of animals killed on public roads and highways for food. Instead, ownership of the carcass defaults to the agency that maintains the roads, wasting countless tons of farm-fresh, slightly damaged meat to rot.
In recent years, a growing number of states have relaxed highway logging bans. The Associated Press reported in 2022 that “about 30” states now allow people to capture roadkill. The pace of reform does not appear to be slowing down.
In July, a new Virginia law will take effect that will allow anyone to apply for road traffic death compensation year-round. Current law only allows the driver who killed the animal to claim the carcass, and then only if the animal was hit during hunting season.
Freeing up roadkill would also help unite animal rights activists and fiscal conservatives.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) endorses road-kill meat as superior to meat sold in supermarkets.
“Animals killed on the road were not castrated, dehorned or debeaked without anesthesia, and were not subjected to the trauma and pain of transport,” the organization said on its website.
Virginia Del. Tony Wilt (R-Harrisonburg), the author of Virginia’s new law, advocated for the policy change as a way to ease the burden on the state’s transportation department.
“Currently, if no one takes the animal away, it will end up back in the [the Virginia Department of Transportation]. At certain times of the year, these things can add up,” he said at a committee hearing earlier this year, according to WRIC.
Liberals would obviously support these policies as well. Under an ideal road privatization system, it would be possible for road companies to appropriate animal carcasses for themselves. But as long as the public owns and operates the highway, it seems only fair to allow the public to harvest any animal killed on the highway.
The open road, and all it has to offer, has long been associated with America’s unique vision of freedom. Extending this freedom to the curb can only be seen as a victory for individual freedom.
