Dogs have a negative impact on the environment by eating a lot of meat. On March 21, scientists told the French edition of L’Express about this.
According to a 2017 study by UCLA professor Gregory Okin, about 160 million dogs and cats have 25 to 30% of the environmental impact in the United States due to meat consumption.
This harm can be compared to the emission of 64 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is comparable to the consequences of using 13 million cars per year.
At the same time, Professor Pim Martens of the University of Maastricht pointed out that a dog’s carbon footprint depends on where they live. For example, an average dog weighing between 10 and 20 kg emits 4.2-17 tonnes of CO2 in its entire life if it lives in the Netherlands, 3.7-19.1 tonnes in China and only 1.5-9.9 t – in Japan, the expert noted.
Meanwhile, other experts noted a number of positive aspects in the situation.
Kelly Swanson, an animal nutritionist at the University of Illinois, said most pets eat feed that comes from the by-products of the food industry.
According to veterinarian Sebastian Lefebvre, the impact of traditional industrial pet food on CO2 emissions is negligible today.… He joked that the scale of harm from pets will only become a problem for humans when they become vegetarian.
At the same time, all scientists agreed that a large dog leaves a larger carbon footprint than a small cat, as it eats more, and to help the environment, people should try not to overfeed their pets and, for example, include other sources of protein in the diet of tetrapods. , which would reduce the amount of meat they eat.
Earlier, on March 1, it became known that three-quarters of Russians (73%) keep at least one four-legged pet at home, and most of them prefer cats.
Meanwhile, starting a pet, not everyone thinks that you will also have to pay for its care and treatment, according to the data of social research.