I prefer that an animal be dead before I eat it. If I am not going to eat it then I prefer that it live. There are at least two cases in which I will kill an animal without any intention of eating it. Firstly in ensuring my own safety and that of my family, and secondly in providing for my family.

When encountering an animal on a roadway I consider four options; accelerate, decelerate, maintain course and speed, alter course and speed. If I am travelling with a destination in mind I am generally not interested in securing the evening's meal which quickly eliminates acceleration in most cases.
If there is enough distance between me and the animal and between me and any following vehicles, then I will attempt to decelerate enough to avoid hitting the animal. This is especially true with larger animals which might possible cause damage to myself, my passengers, and my vehicle as well as itself if we collide. There are a number of factors involved in this decision such as road conditions (pavement or gravel, dry or wet, clear or low visibility, etc.) and distance or speed as I already mentioned.
Maintaining course and speed is my second choice. I may gradually slow the vehicle and even move to one side but unless the animal is of a significant size it will need to get itself to safety because I am coming through!
The distant third choice is to try to avoid the animal by decelerating and swerving drastically. This in itself is quite dangerous and risky so unless I feel in that moment it is of lesser risk or consequence than hitting the animal I am not going to make dramatic changes to my travel.

Another obvious scenario related to safety is that of an attacking animal. In this case I am going to channel as much of the fear the attack inspires as possible into controlled revenge and by all means reasonable (to me in such a state of mind) eliminate the threat.

If a predator is threating not me, my family, or my property, but rather our food supply, whether plant or animal, I will act against it. I will trap, poison, drown, decapitate, or shoot any creature which tries to eat my chickens, eggs, or Brussels sprouts! Again I would prefer not to kill the animal and to maim seems to me cruel and ineffective. I will first attempt to deter the intruders, secure what is of value to me, or both.