A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems has concluded that feeding pets a nutritionally sound vegan diet is a “significant extant climate change mitigation strategy which warrants immediate implementation”.
The study cites research showing that 25-30% of the environmental impacts of livestock production in the US have been attributed to companion animal diets. It also claims that in Japan, the environmental impacts of a medium dog’s diet are greater than those of the average person’s diet.
In wealthy countries with high rates of pet ownership, the benefits of shifting dogs away from meat-based diets are said to be equivalent to between a quarter and a third of the environmental benefits achievable through human dietary change.
The role of animal byproducts
The research disputes the idea that pet food has a low impact because it is mainly made from animal byproducts. It claims that just 25% of animal byproducts in high-income countries like the US are used in pet food, and the sector competes with others to access these ingredients. Moreover, the sale of byproducts is said to significantly boost the profits of the meat industry — for example, 11.4% of the gross income from beef reportedly originates from byproducts.
This contradicts the idea that animal byproducts would be wasted if not used in pet food, and demonstrates how these ingredients help to fund an unsustainable industry. Furthermore, the authors argue that byproducts are less efficient than human-grade meat, since they only make up a minority of the carcasses used for pet food. This means more carcasses are needed, and therefore more animals must be raised and slaughtered.
The benefits of vegan diets
On the other hand, feeding all dogs worldwide a vegan diet could save an area of land greater than Mexico, while doing the same for cats could save an area larger than Germany. Water use, greenhouse gas emissions, biocide use, and pollutants would also be significantly reduced.
An increasing body of research supports positive health outcomes for dogs and cats fed vegan diets, and pets appear to enjoy these diets as much as conventional ones. However, the study notes the need for governments and the media to raise awareness of the benefits of plant-based pet food.
Additionally, the authors describe the potential of new technologies such as cultivated meat and precision fermentation to produce more sustainable foods for pets.
“Companion animal populations are predicted to significantly increase in the coming years, and so mitigation strategies must fundamentally redress unsustainable practices,” says the study. “The most obvious and effective step we can take to substantially reduce the environmental impacts of companion animal diets is to transition away from animal-sourced ingredients, and towards nutritionally sound vegan pet foods.”
