Dogs can cause significantly higher diet-related greenhouse gas emissions than the diet of their owners. This is the result a study from the University of Edinburgh, which appears in the specialist magazine Journal of Cleaner Production has appeared. Dry, wet, raw or plant-based food – for their work, the researchers evaluated 996 food brands commercially available in Great Britain; They calculated the CO based on the ingredient lists and nutritional labels2-Emission. Result: The feed with the highest emissions is 65 times more harmful to the climate than the most climate-friendly products.
As expected, dry food with a high grain content performs better than meat-rich products. What is surprising, however, is that dog food is responsible for 1 percent of Great Britain’s total emissions. If all dogs in the world were to be fed the dog food tested, more than half of the emissions that arise each year from burning kerosene in aviation would occur.
Study leader John Harvey confirms that many dog owners are conflicted: “They want to feed their animals in a species-appropriate manner, but at the same time protect the planet.” But even simple tips when buying could make a big difference: for example, paying attention to the description of the cuts of meat used. The proportion of high-quality muscle meat should be as low as possible because people could also eat it. The more leftovers from slaughter are used, the better. Plant-based dog food would be an even more climate-friendly solution; studies would show that carefully formulated plant-based foods meet the nutritional needs of dogs and offer similar health benefits to meat-containing foods.
Researchers repeatedly examine the ecological balance of dogs, for example a work by the Technical University of Berlin 2020 In addition to the production and delivery process of the feed, there are also ecological costs, such as urine and feces. The basis for the calculation was a model dog weighing 15 kilograms and turning 13 years old. Result: Such a dog’s life generates 8.2 tons of greenhouse gas, as much as is released in 13 return flights from Berlin to Barcelona. Or as much as 72,800 kilometers by car, as almost two trips around the world.
Thousands of liters of urine and feces
In such a dog’s life, 2,000 liters of urine and 1,000 kilograms of feces are produced – with a significant impact on the environment. In addition to the over-fertilization of water bodies, which has led to huge dead zones in the Baltic Sea, heavy metals contained in food lead to soil poisoning, and dog excrement also poisons some aquatic organisms. The Berlin study also examined indirect effects on the environment, such as plastic bags for feces. Here the study expressly advises: The additional waste is less serious than the excretions that end up in the environment.
In 2017, scientists from the University of California in their study It has been determined that all dogs and cats kept as pets around the world together produce 64 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. That’s as many as Senegal and Jordan combined – almost 30 million people live there.