SCAVENGE

[verb] - to look for or obtain (food and other objects) in or from other people's unwanted rubbish, or (of animals) to feed on the flesh of dead decaying animalsWe were so poor we had to scavenge through rubbish dumps for old furniture. [I]The flood has left villagers and animals desperately scavenging for food. [I]We managed to scavenge a lot of furniture from the local rubbish dump. [T] Those cats aren't fed by anybody - they just live in the open and scavenge. [I]