2,524. Finding a Slaughtered Animal

Hilchos Shechita 4:7

If we see from a distance that a Jew slaughtered an animal and left but we don’t know if this person knows the laws of shechita, the animal is permitted. Similarly, if one tells his agent to go slaughter an animal for him and he finds a slaughtered animal but he doesn’t know if it was slaughtered by his agent or by someone else, the animal is permitted. This is because most people who perform shechita are proficient.

Hilchos Shechita 4:8

If someone loses a goat or a chicken and finds it slaughtered at home, it is permitted because most people who slaughter are proficient; if he finds it in the market place, it is prohibited because perhaps it was rendered a neveila and discarded in the market place. Similarly, if he found it in the trash at home, it’s prohibited.