Should Your Dog Go Vegan?

Now, I know this sounds like a ridiculous question. That’s because it is a ridiculous question. Two decades ago, having a vegan dog seemed as absurd as a worldwide campaign to save space sex geckos (you read that right, you can watch a video on it here). But that happened, as this… most likely will. While it is a strange question, it is a necessary one. It is one of the many niche issues about climate change, that, although it seems like a fringe issue, it nevertheless needs to be investigated and weighed up for it potential impacts and solutions.

The thing is, the environmental impact of pets is surprisingly not insignificant, and thus neither is this issue. A dog’s diet releases roughly 20% of the carbon dioxide emissions the average human does, based on an omnivorous human diet. Remember, the current omnivorous human diet is one of the leading factors in causing climate change. In other words, 5 average-sized dogs’ diet has the same environmental impact as you. Considering the USA alone has around 76 million dogs and 56 million cats, it’s hard to ignore their impact once you look at the facts.

If you weren’t surprised by this weirdness yet, there are actually some serious surveys on the environmental impact of pets. A relatively recent study on the nutritional sustainability of pet food found, although it is hard to estimate, that pet food accounts for around 25% of the environmental damage caused by animal food production. That is a very large amount. Far more significant than I’d first envisaged when thinking about this question. So this is a problem that needs solving as urgently as any of the other climate change inducing factors, isn’t it? But then comes the next logical question, can your dog actually go vegan? We can’t do anything to put our little doggies in jeopardy.

Theoretically, yes. Dogs need a certain mix of nutrients and vitamins commonly found in meat that can be either replicated or fortified into plant-based dog food. Some studies even suggest a plant-based pet diet could be incredibly helpful in another area: helping decrease obesity in household pets, which is a growing problem (see what I did there). However, it is true that this diet for dogs is difficult to get right and the danger of nutrient deficiencies is higher. Merely feeding them our plant-based diet will not work, as they have different dietary needs from us. They would need either plant-based dog food (which does already exist in South Africa) or a carefully constructed feeding regime from the owner. And if you’re a bit apprehensive about feeding your dog a vegan diet, ask yourself, if you bought a similar packet of dog food as the one you already buy, which has the same nutritional makeup and is approved by the same reputable institutions and agencies, would you or your dog really notice the difference? It’s not like the current stuff you’re feeding your dog is organic, BPA-free, and each kernel is individually crafted by a passionate chef. But what about taste, the family who feeds their dogs solely wagyu steaks may ask? Well, that could be a potential problem. Even human meat alternatives are struggling to get this right, but they are getting closer. It may be different for you, but I feel like the trade-off, temporarily slightly worse tasting meat for contributing to saving the planet, seems fair. Finally, if you’re still not at ease, to be labelled ‘complete’ dog food, a product is required by law to provide all a dog’s dietary requirements. So, the mere existence of commercial vegan dog food means it is safe for consumption and for your doggie.

What about cats, you may be thinking? Well, cats are a bit trickier and may not be able to go vegan (personally, not the most disappointing finding). Cats are what is called obligate carnivores, meaning they need meat to survive. However, if you’ve been completely convinced by my post and immediately want to turn your cat vegan and start asking it where its protein comes from, don’t lose all hope. There is the potential for synthetically creating cat food that contains high enough amounts of certain nutrients only found in meat, such as taurine. We’re not there yet, but possibly, we will be soon.

Remember, at the heart of the climate change fight is the goal of net-zero. Meaning, we take out the same amount of harmful stuff from the atmosphere that we put into it. Net-zero is the only sustainable path. Unfortunately, pet food contributes to tipping us away from net zero into the danger zone. Simple as that. And if it does, we need to do something about it.

These are the type of questions we need to be asking to get to net-zero. No matter how funny it seems, its impact is shown to be real and tangible, meaning it must be looked at with full seriousness. The fact that this question initially sounded ridiculous merely shows how our thinking is far too narrow. Climate change stems from numerous emitters, not just large factories and flatulent cows. We need to make sure we analyse each aspect of our lives, and whether it harms our precious planet. It is only once we acknowledge and address each potential issue, no matter how strange it may initially sound, that we have a chance of averting disaster.

References

Okin GS (2017) Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats. PLoS ONE 12(8): e0181301. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181301

Kelly S. Swanson, Rebecca A. Carter, Tracy P. Yount, Jan Aretz, Preston R. Buff, Nutritional Sustainability of Pet Foods, Advances in Nutrition, Volume 4, Issue 2, March 2013, Pages 141–150, https://doi.org/10.3945/an.112.003335

https://firstvet.com/uk/articles/can-my-dog-be-vegan

https://www.aspca.org/news/why-cant-my-cat-be-vegan

https://vfoods.co.za/benevo-v-dog/

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/20/vegan-pet-food-as-healthy-for-cats-and-dogs-as-meat-says-veterinary-professor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b436uUuf_VI