Vegan diets for dogs would save more emissions than UK produces

If the world’s dogs went vegan, it would save more green house gas emissions than the UK produces, according to research by a Winchester academic.

University of Winchester Professor Andrew Knight’s research highlights the environmental impact of the word’s dogs being fed vegan diets.

The study estimates that cats and dogs consume around 9% of all land animals killed for food. This equates to seven billion animals annually, which would feed around 450m additional people, more than the EU population.

Not only would more people be fed, land larger than the size of Mexico would also be available.

Prof Andrew Knight said: “The proportion of the dietary energy that’s currently being provided by meat and animal produce, would instead be supplied by plants and it takes an awful less land to produce all of those plants than it does to produce the meat and animal ingredients.”

Prof Knight’s research focused on health outcomes for dogs and cats when fed a vegan diet, the behavioural outcomes, how happy they are on these diets and the environmental impacts of the dietary transition.

He noted that there are currently nine large scale studies into the health outcomes of plant-based diets for dogs. One study, published in the last year has shown that dogs on a vegan diet were living approximately a year and a half longer.

The British Veterinary Association and Blue Cross have previously advised against feeding animals a vegan diet as it can be difficult to make sure your dog is getting the nutrients they need.

If you are thinking of transitioning your dog onto a vegan diet, it’s recommended to seek advice from a veterinary professional or a nutritionalist before doing so.