Restaurant Caught With Deer Brains In Freezer

Venison is a much-beloved meat among hunters and diners all around the world, but just because deer are walking around outside does not mean that a restaurant can serve them without proper documentation of where the meat came from, and one Pennsylvania restaurant now finds itself under investigation after investigators found mysterious deer heads and brains on the premises.

According to Penn Live, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating the New China House restaurant after investigators acting on a tip discovered "deer brains, deer heads, skinned and whole tails, legs, muscle meat, spines, necks and other unidentifiable parts both raw and cooked," in the restaurant's freezer.

The restaurant's owners say the deer meat was for personal consumption, and that there is no deer meat on the menu or served in the restaurant. They also say the deer meat came from a nearby deer butchering house.

It is legal to eat venison, but Pennsylvania officials say that deer meat cannot be sold unless it comes from a deer farm where animals are raised for that purpose. Hunters who kill deer can have the meat processed by a butcher, but it is not legal to sell the meat from hunted deer. 

The restaurant is still open while the investigation continues. Investigators also reportedly took prepared foods from the restaurant's walk-in refrigerator so investigators can test the meat and see what kind of animal it comes from.