the hidden environmental costs of dog and cat food1
Gregory Ogin quickly pointed out that he did not hate dogs and cats.
Even though he didn\'t share with both.
He is allergic, so his pet is fish.
He thinks it\'s okay for you to do that.
But if you do, he wants you to think about what their meat is.
Heavy food and canned food are affecting the Earth.
Okin, a geographer at the University of California, Los Angeles, recently did the same, and the data he calculated came to some amazing conclusions.
About 0. 18 billion U. S. Rover and Flying Tigers gobbled up about 25% of the animals.
According to Okin\'s calculations, the United States consumes derived calories every year.
If these pets establish a sovereign state, it will rank fifth in global meat consumption.
Needless to say, the production of this meat
This requires more land, water and energy, more pollution than plantsbased food -
Produce a large amount of greenhouse gas: up to 64 million tons per year, equivalent to driving more than 12 million cars per year.
This does not mean pets.
It must be avoided for the benefit of the Earth, but \"this is not a pure benefit either,\" Okin wrote in a study published this week on PLOS One.
\"If you\'re worried about the environment, then it\'s like what kind of car you\'re thinking about buying. . .
\"This could be something on your radar,\" Okin said in an interview . \".
\"But it\'s not necessarily something you want to feel terrible about.
\"This study is a start for Okin, which usually travels around the global research desert --
Wind erosion, dust production and factories
Soil interaction.
But he says the chicken trend in the backyard of Los Angeles reminds him of how cool it is for pet chickens to make protein, while dogs and cats eat protein.
He found that even if people were increasingly interested in the environmental impact of our own meat consumption, we hardly tried to quantify the role played by our most common pets.
To do this, Okin switched from the pet industry, the average animal weight, and the list of ingredients in popular pet foods to an estimate of the number of dogs and cats.
He decided that dogs and cats in the country consume about 19% of human heat, or about 62 million of Americans.
But because they have high protein content in their food, the total number of animals they have
The body consumes about 33% of the body\'s calories.
Keeling Heinze said that the numbers for Okin are estimates, but they \"gave us a good idea of some numbers that we can talk about,\" a veterinary nutritionist at the College of Veterinary Medicine at cafings, the University of taffz, he wrote about the environmental impact of pet food.
\"They came up with a very interesting discussion.
\"Okin warned that this is unlikely to improve soon.
In developing countries like China, pet ownership is increasing, which means that demand for meat pet food is also increasing.
In the United States, the idea of pets as furry children is increasing, which leads to the expansion of the expensive food market, which sounds like a Blue Apron meal.
That means not just kale and sweet potatoes in the ingredient list, but grains --Freedom and People-
Emphasize that they use high grade mixtures
Quality meat, not the remaining \"by-products\" that traditionally account for most of pet food \".
\"The trend now is that people will be looking for more good meat for their animals and more high meat --
Provide protein food for their animals, \"Okin said.
This is the hard part.
Heinze said that the first thing to pass high
Protein or humangrade foods.
Dogs and cats do need protein, she says.
Especially cats, they are specialized carnivores, unlike their roommates of omnivores.
But the idea that they need the equivalent of the main rib comes from what she calls the \"Pet Food Fake news machine \".
\"There is no need to be turned off by some plants --
The protein in the food ingredients, especially dog owners, can look for foods with lower protein content, she said. Human-
The hierarchy doesn\'t even have a regulatory definition, but it does indicate that a product might use proteins that humans would eat, Heinze said.
Meat by-product
All the organs and other animal parts that don\'t end in the supermarket-
Everything is fine, she said.
\"Dogs and cats are happy to eat organ meat,\" Heizne said . \".
\"Americans do not.
\"Okin has some ideas about this.
He said that the argument that pet food use by-products are \"efficient\" in meat production is based on the premise that internal organs and organs are rough. (
Look at the collective gag on the fine textured beef product known as \"pink mucus. \")
But his research found that if we reconsider this,
First quarter of all animals
The calories in pet food are sufficient for all Colorado people.
\"I travel around the world and I realize that what humans can eat is culture --
Specifically, \"he said.
\"Maybe we need to have a conversation about what we\'re going to eat.
\"At the same time, Okin advises people to consider raising a smaller dog --
For example, a hound is not a big Dane.
Or, if you think a hamster can meet your pet needs, go this way.
Heinze, as far as she is concerned, sometimes offers the same advice to vegetarian or vegan customers who want their pets to eat meat --free.
She said that they are usually considered for animal welfare rather than environmental, but this diet is not always the best for dogs and never the best for cats.
\"In my career, there have been times when I honestly said to my clients, \'We need to find a new home for your pet, \'she said. \'You need to buy something like a rabbit, a guinea pig.