A commitment to snout-to-tail consumption, where as much rendered product as possible is produced for human use, could significantly reduce national meat consumption, Dr Okin said.
A new study says dogs and cats take a toll on the environment each year that’s roughly equivalent to a year’s worth of driving by 13.6 million cars, a researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles found.
“I like dogs and cats, and I’m definitely not recommending that people get rid of their pets or put them on a vegetarian diet, which would be unhealthy”, Okin said. But the study notes that furry consumers of agricultural products are rarely included in calculations of the environmental impact of dietary choices even though more than 60 percent of US households have pets.
UCLA geography professor Gary Okin found that the country’s 163 million cats and dogs are “responsible for 25% to 30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the United States”, the university announced.
America’s pets produce about 5.1 million tons of feces in a year, as much as 90 million Americans. If all that were thrown in the trash, it would rival the total trash production of MA – from the humans, at least.
Compared to a plant-based diet, meat requires more energy, land and water to produce, and has greater environmental consequences in terms of erosion, pesticides and waste, Okin noted. Okin cites previous studies that found that the American diet “produces the equivalent of 260 million tons of carbon dioxide from livestock production”.
And the new research is giving dog and cat lovers paws.
Okin found that dogs and cats chow down on only 19 percent as many calories as people in the US – which makes sense owing to their smaller size.
Dog and cat food tends to have more meat than the average human diet.
The environmental impact of meat production is well-known. “It is clear that a transition to pets that eat less meat, and therefore have less environmental impact, would reduce the overall USA consumption of meat”. “That got me thinking: How much meat do our pets eat?” Traditionally there have been a lot of bits and pieces in pet food that humans would not eat – but as pet pampering reaches astronomical proportions, people are increasingly buying premium pet foods comprised of quality meat suitable for human consumption.
Okin thinks we should tweak their food, pulling out ingredients like steak that humans want to eat and adding in more ingredients like pink slime, which is perfectly nutritious but not necessary appetizing.
– We all know that owning a dog or cat can cause problems such as chewed shoes, “accidents” on the carpet and a proliferation of shedding hair.
Okin noted that the pet-food industry has made advancements in manufacturing, product design and alternative protein sources, but more can be done.
“I think we as a society need to just be able to have a conversation about these – are these costs we’re willing to bear and are there ways to minimize the costs and make things better for everybody”, he told KPCC.
He doesn’t see a simple solution. Orkin does not dispute the social or emotional benefits of pet ownership. People concerned about meat intake could consider vegetarian pets, like birds or hamsters, he suggested. “But frankly, it’s a good, low-priced protein source”.