A Vegan Pet?

27 year old Bramble

Vegan pet food is now emerging in the commercial pet food market. It is a very controversial topic because most pet owners believe that dogs or cats cannot obtain their nutritional requirements without eating meat. Some of the oldest dogs that lived were even on vegetarian diets! Australian Sandy Anderson has developed the only nutritionally balanced vegan pet food on the market. Watch the video below to hear her talk about it and decide for yourself!

Sandy Anderson on Vegan Pet Food

Its Now Possible To Compost Your Pets Waste!

Shift Pet Waste System uses efficient microbes in crushed grain with an added absorbent material. Add Shift! to any type of dog or cat waste, and the beneficial microbes will go to work to consume the waste. All the organic material including the nutrients are returned to the soil, all without odour or flies. Just shovel or rake droppings into a shallow trench in garden soil, and sprinkle with a handful of Shift! Then cover with soil or mulch (just a couple of inches thick) and now the microbes in Shift! will go to work to accelerate the decomposition of the droppings in the soil.

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Desexing

Desexing your pet is extremely important for population control. Some pet owners think it is cruel to do this but its the best thing for your pet and the environment. If you have an unruly dog you may find it even will calm him down. One pet has enough of an environmental impact let alone a litter of puppies! Desexing your pet will take the stress off animal shelters and reduce the number of animals that have to be euthanased every year. The City of Sydney has a great desexing information page and is even currently offering reduced desexing costs for concession card holders.
Check the page out here.

Kennel Shopping? Go Green!

Outdoor dogs require shelter to protect them from the elements. Los Angeles based company Sustainable Pet Design make dog houses that use non-toxic paint, beez wax waterproofing and recycled wood. Use their ideas for inspiration for your own pets house.

Dog vs. Cat

Who is worse for the environment? A recent article by Green Pages "Make Your Pet Eco-Friendly" estimates that the average dog creates 1.92 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year while a cat produces half a tonnes worth. Though cats are responsible for the deaths of native animals. Dogs produce more waste than cats but cats use litter that even when made from recycled paper still adds to landfill. A small dog is probably the best choice provided that waste is flushed and not put in the bin.

Time to Eat the Dog?

'Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living' is a controversial book by  New Zealand based scientists Robert Vale and Brenda Vale. The Vales' believe that if we are to examine all of our lifestyle choices and their environmental impacts then we must include our pets as part of the discussion. We know the impacts of the human food chain in regards to the environment but what about our pets? According to the Vales' research a medium sizes dog costs the earth twice that of a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 16,000km including the environmental cost of building the vehicle. Further research claims that it takes 2.07 acres of land to keep a medium sized dog fed. The Vales have also brought cats into the equation claiming a cat has the environmental impact of a Volkswagon golf. This is quite alarming when you consider that in 2004 the average Vietnamese citizen had an ecological footprint of only 1.88 acres.

The New Scientist, in a recent editorial entitled "Cute, Fluffy and Horribly Greedy", largely agreed with the Vales' findings, "In a world where scarce resources are already hogged by the rich, can we really justify keeping pets that take more than some people?"
Robert Vale says he was surprised when calculating quite how large the environmental impact was of some of our most popular pet species. "Of all the areas we researched for the book, the subject of pets was by far the biggest surprise for us. But all we are arguing in the book is that we should be making sensible, informed choices. For example, it's not really going to be that much of a problem if you have a big dog but also take the bus everywhere, never fly and live in a small home. It's when everyone starts to have a big car, big house, big family and a big dog that the problems start."

While many pet owners have taken this information as an attack on them personally I think it is quite the opposite. This information can only empower pet owners to make informed decisions. Perhaps when deciding to add a pet to your family a Great Dane is probably not the right choice instead consider a smaller breed such as a terrier. Owning a pet is not a right but instead it is a luxury and I think this is the mind set that needs to change.

Click here to listen to Robert and Brenda Vale answering questions about their book on ABC radio.

The Power of Dog Poo!

The City of San Francisco loves its dogs and city officials claim that dog poo makes up 4% of residential waste sent to landfill each year – the same amount as used nappies. So the community got together and created a way to use dog poo as a renewable energy source and it now helps power a park.

San Francisco's Unique Dog Park

Poo is a Problem!



Skooperboxes


Did you know that Sydney dogs produce over 1000 tonnes of waste every year? Thats ten garbage trucks full every day! According to Waverley Council those are the statistics, check out their Pet Projects site here. Its against the law not to pick up after your dog but many choose to ignore this. Animals waste is detrimental to the environment and can contain bacteria that can contaminate our water supply if left to wash down drains. The best option is to flush your dogs waste down the toilet but biodegradable poop bags or skooperboxes are also great alternatives. Make sure whatever option you choose is biodegradable so the waste doesnt sit in landfill for years.
Owning a pet comes with a lot of responsiblity, so make sure you dispose of your pups poo with the environment in mind!
Click here to check out some great council programs and projects focussing on dog poo, one council has even introduced dung beetles!

Is Your Cat Food Fishy?

The UK's Guardian ran a piece on sustainable fishing and your cat. The article highlights how sustainable it is to be feeding fish to pets when we don't even have enough fish to feed the human population. On a positive note, catfood brand Whiskas has pledged to source all of its fish from sustainable sources which will be fully implemented in Europe by the end of the year and globally by 2020.
Check out the article here.

Why Organic Food is Better for your Pooch and the Environment

Our dogs and cats too have a much worse impact on the environment than a pet budgie or guinea pig mainly due to their carnivourous diets. In a study published in New Scientist, a medium dog eats around 164kg of meat and 95 kg of cereals a year which equates to 43.3 square metres of land to produce 1kg of chicken a year. While some argue that pet food is made from the parts of animals that we don't eat, it is also important to note that the 'premium' ranges available use 'choice' cuts of meat and they are popular because owners want their pet to eat as well as they do.

 Robert Vale, one of the authors of  'Time to Eat the Dog?' explains that when buying pet food to opt for poultry and rabbit because they have less of an environmental impact than red meat or fish.

The fact is most of this commerical pet food has not been produced in an eco friendly way and has travelled across oceans to get to your door. Why not play chef for your pets and try to use organic veggies and meat. By eliminating the transportation and packaging of commercial petfood you'll  know exactly what is going into your pets meals and you will be doing the planet a big favour. If you haven't got time for homemade meals plenty of holistic pet stores stock local organic dinners and in Sydney, Sassy Treats delivers home cooked organic meals for your dog straight to your door. 

So why not go down the organic path? Minimally processed foods that exclude harsh pesticides, antibiotics and artificial ingredients and preservatives will result in a happier healthir pet and most likely reduce vet bills and extend quality of life.

Hemp and your Pet?

Apparantly hemp is now being served to pets for dinner all around the world. The use of hemp in the pet industry  has even been extended to bedding, leads and collars. Hemp product website Happy Planet now offers a range for pets due to an increased demand from consumers. CEO Thomas Cunliff supports the inclusion of hemp in animals’ diets due to its nutritional value and the limited impact that it has on the environment. Hemp crops require minimal water and no chemicals and are extremely hardy. When used for pet food the protein content is quite high making it a great substitute for meat. Cunliff says, ‘To make conventional pet foods, the grain is grown, then the grain is fed to cattle and chickens, then they are slaughtered and their by-products are processed into pet food. A lot of energy and waste goes into that.
The fibres of hemp are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and highly durable making it great to use in collars, leads,beds and chew toys. Happy Planet is a Queensland company making it even more sustainable to source your pets products from instead of buying from overseas.