Your Pet Food Is More Harmful to the Environment Than You Think, According to a Report
It's all about reducing our carbon footprint. That's a common talking point among environmentalists and researchers. It's a lifestyle thing, really. That includes how our pets live, as well. Apparently, new research has shown that wet food for our cats and dogs have adverse effects on our environment in the long run, according to a Brazilian study.
Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo analyzed the diets of about 320 cats and 618 dogs in the country. They had looked into both commercial and homemmade pet good, too. Factors such as nutritional and calorific intake were also evaluated. The research looked at factors like land and water usage, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. It concluded that, compared to dry food, wet food had led to a seven-fold increase in CO2 production. Yikes.
On average, 10 kilograms of wet dog food, which would have around 534 calories on average per day, would lead to 6,541 kilograms of CO2 per year. Dry food, on the other hand, was only at 828.37 kilograms annually. This is about a 689-percent increase.
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"Cat and dog owners could significantly reduce the environmental impact of their pets' diets by feeding them dry food (consisting of kibble or biscuits) rather than wet food with higher water content," it wrote. "...These results highlight the extensive environmental impacts of pet foods, the need to make them more sustainable and an indication of how this may be achieved."
That's climate science for you. Even our pets' diets can have quite the repercussions. We're guessing it's high time we rethink what we feed our pets then. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
