UPDATE: The deer has now been found - read more here.
Police have issued a warning to the public not to eat a dead deer that disappeared from the side of the road after it was pumped with drugs.
The deer was lying on the side of the road on the A458 Golfa in Welshpool after it was put down by a vet after being hit by a car. Police are now appealing for information after the deer disappeared from the side of the road.
They are concerned that the person who took the animal may eat it, which poses a health risk "due to the level of medication administered by the vet". Police were called to the area at 6.50am on Thursday after reports a car collided with the animal, and they were followed by a vet, sometime between 8am and 8.50am on Thursday morning, the deer was removed.
A statement from Dyfed-Powys Police said: "We’re appealing for the person who has picked up a dead deer on the A458 Golfa straight to please contact us... do not consume it as it is a health risk.
"Officers were called to the road at 6.50am, where a car had collided with a deer around one mile from Welshpool. Sadly, the deer was badly injured and had to be put down by a vet.
"Some time between 8am and 8.50am the deer has been removed from the road by a member of the public. Due to the level of medication administered by the vet, the deer is a health risk and we’re concerned the person who found it might plan to eat it.
If this was you, please call 101 and an officer will come and collect the animal to be properly disposed of."
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