Feeding cats and dogs creates the equivalent of approximately 64 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is established by a study just published on Plos One.
Feeding cats and dogs creates the equivalent of approx 64 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is established by a study just published in Plo One.
While more and more people are choosing a more sustainable diet, on the other there are a series of behaviors that have an impact on the environment and climate change.
For example, what are the consequences of consuming pet food consisting of meat? He asked himself Gregory Okin, a geographer from the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
According to Okin:
"Feeding dogs and cats with meat creates the equivalent of about 64 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which has an impact on the climate equal to one year of driving. 13,6 million cars".
In the study "Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats" it is explained that "cats and dogs are responsible for 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the United States".
Basically, if the 163 million of these American animals formed a country of their own, their nation would be al fifth place in global meat consumption, behind Russia, Brazil, the United States and China.
This is because American pets produce about 5,1 million tons of feces each year, as much as 90 million people. "If all this were thrown in the dumpsters, it would be equivalent to the total production of waste in Massachusetts," the study still reads.
“By this, I don't want to tell people to get rid of their dogs or cats or that they get put on vegetarian diet, which could be unhealthy. But I think we should consider all the effects pets have on the environment, to open a debate and find a solution, ”explains Okin.
How many tons of co2 are related to pet food?
It is clear that an omnivorous diet has a higher environmental impact. We are talking about erosion, pesticides, but also about food waste.
During his research, Okin analyzed the number of American dogs and cats and the ingredients in their foods in the leading brands in this market, thus producing estimates.
Okin found that US dogs and cats eat about 19% of people's calories, as much as all Calories consumed by the human population of France in one year.
Since food tends to have more meat in percentage than the average human diet, this means that dogs and cats consume approximately 25% of calories total derived from animals in the US.
But to date, there is no simple solution according to the scientist:
"We can only hope that the pet food industry takes steps towards sustainability, without the need for cats and dogs to become vegetarians, also because this would go against their nature ".
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