Upvote:8
Most adherents to the literal young-earth seven-day creation account believe that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, God applied the curse to the entire universe, including animals. Animals didn't need to eat the fruit to be affected by the curse. From the YEC view, whether animals ate the fruit is irrelevant because they weren't made "in God's image"
Supporting example, from http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/museum-guide-corruption
God had warned Adam and Eve that if they ate of the Tree, they would die. When God came to walk with them that evening, He punished their sin. The earth was now cursed. Death was now part of life; both animals and humans would now die (Genesis 3:19; Romans 8:20–22). When the first humans sinned, it corrupted all of creation. The ground was cursed and would produce thistles and thorns (Genesis 3:17–18). Animals began to hunt and eat other animals. Man would now have to work hard for food, and woman would have pain in bearing and raising her children (Genesis 3:16–17).
The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) says this:
The animals, not having moral natures, were not guilty of sin, of course, but they also shared in the Curse, for they were—like Adam—made of the dust of the ground that God had cursed. Like Adam's body, their bodies also must return to the ground. Henceforth, "death reigned ... even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression" (Romans 5:14). Thus there is death in the world only because there is sin in the world.