I once asked an Enviro Cop about keeping a dying striper. He said "Don't get caught, it'll get you fined. You can't eat it, but something will." As much as we hate that feeling of waste, I guess it's part of the price of the ticket.
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine