Conditions for Eating Game Caught by a Trained Hunting Dog

Conditions for the Permissibility of Game Caught by a Hunting Dog


Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori


If a trained hunting dog catches game, it is halal under certain conditions. However:

• If an untrained or unknown dog joins the trained one in catching the prey, the meat becomes haram because the cause of death is uncertain.
• If the trained dog eats from the prey, it becomes haram, as it is considered to have caught it for itself rather than for the hunter.

Hadith Evidences​

① Presence of Another Dog
ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:


وإن وجدت مع كلبك كلبا غيره وقد قتل فلا تأكل فإنك لا تدري أيهما قتله
“If you find another dog with your dog, and the animal is dead, then do not eat it — for you do not know which one of them killed it.”


[Bukhari 5484; Muslim 3560]


② Hunting Dog Eating from the Prey
ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:


فكل مما أمسكن عليك إلا أن يأكل الكلب فلا تأكل فإني أخاف أن يكون إنما أمسك على نفسه
“Eat from what they (the hunting animals) catch for you, except if the dog eats from it — then do not eat, for I fear it caught it for itself.”


[Bukhari 5483; Muslim 1929]