When did people begin highway roadkill cleanup?

Question

Writing an essay. I've searched and I can't find any information on the history of roadkill cleanup. When did roadkill cleanup (via contracted company/government highway crews, not people) become an option? Who was the first company, or first city/province/state who started it?

Answer 1

Good question.

When the wagons crossed the plains they ate what they killed.

From the invention of the car until post WW1 most animals were faster than most cars ;-).  But really, there were not a significant number of cars to cause road kill.  Most of the killing was people killing each other.

Most likely it was post WW2 when the automobile economy really bloomed and highways were cut across virgin territory.  At some point the killing of animals by speeding cars would have become so prevalent that it became economical to collect them as a regular part of highway maintenance.

First company paid to remove the carcasses was probably the same company used to build and  maintain the highway.

Nothing has changed from then 'til now.

Answer 2

When the wagons crossed the plains they ate what they killed.

there were not a significant number of cars to cause road kill. Most of the killing was people killing each other.

Most likely it was post WW2 when the automobile economy really bloomed and highways were cut across virgin territory. At some point the killing of animals by speeding cars would have become so prevalent that it became economical to collect them as a regular part of highway maintenance.

First company paid to remove the carcasses was probably the same company used to build and maintain the highway.

Nothing has changed from then 'til now

Answer 3

Roadkill clean up or any clean would have been the job of the city or town sanitation dept.probably since the beginning of communal living man would have had someone in charge of removing the dead domestic animals from the streets regardless of how the died and they would have also removed any and all litter from the streets that could be a health hazard to people or other animals

Answer 4

Hitler didn't do road kill clean up, he used it for pavement.