Eat a dog, Save the earth

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Eat dogSUVs owners are often castigated by treehuggers for their Earth-unfriendly lifestyle. A new book argues that pets are just as bad.

New Zealand authors Robert and Brenda Vale’s book, “Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living” is an exhaustive analysis of the environmental impact of common pets such as cats and dogs. The authors studied the carbon emissions created by pets, including the ingredients in their food and the land required to grow it. And the results don’t bode well for Fido, who compares poorly to that SUV.   …..

“Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat,” Vale told New Scientist magazine. So what’s the “eco-pawprint” of your pet?

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf).

Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

For more information, read the full article on New Scientist.

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6 thoughts on “Eat a dog, Save the earth”

  2. I don’t buy it. Pet food is made out of leftovers and byproducts from other food industries. There aren’t a whole lot of crops or livestock being raised solely for the pet food industry, if any at all. In that context, pets actually prevent waste.

  3. damn idiots. Here i am trying as hard as possible to increase the amount of C02 I release and they go and tell me that because I dont own a pet I am not doing my job right. Guess I will have to idle my car more tommorow.

  4. What jackasses. People like this must live such miserable lives because they can’t enjoy all the beautiful things God gave us – like the love of a dog. Who the eff cares about carbon footprint when global warming doesn’t even exist. The Earth has COOLED in the past 10 years.

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