Dog lovers damage the planet - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15059949
The average-sized dog consumes about 360 pounds of meat a year and its impact on the environment is double that of a typical SUV. “Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat,” says John Barrett of the Stockholm Environment Institute.

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carbon_paw_print_of_your_beloved_pet_partner/

Cats are not much better. If you really care about the planet, do not acquire a meat-eating pet. Also, many pet food bags and toys are made of plastic, another environmental hazard.

The argument that cats and dogs mainly eat the remains of animals not consumed by humans also falls short as those remains can be recycled into other products. And, of course, if humans eat less meat to preserve the environment, there will be less remnants for pets to consume anyway.
#15059952
Dogs are not meat- eating pets.

My medium sized dog keeps snakes out of our yard, and kills rats. She's also handy as security, as she's blindlingly fast and is still intimidating, despite being an absolute softy.

She eats a bag of dogfood in about 2 weeks. That would be about 120 lb of DOGFOOD, a year, not MEAT. 360 lb of meat? They pulled that number out of their ass.

Dogfood is not even close to 100% meat, as dogs are omnivores, and not carnivores.Few pets get fed meat on any regular basis, and if you checked ingredients, you'd know that.

This article, based on the information it gives, is suspect. it someone that hates pet and is an over-the-top environmentalist, until it comes to animals. :knife:

Note: Most commercial dog food is only about 40% meat.
Last edited by Godstud on 18 Jan 2020 02:54, edited 1 time in total.
#15059954
In this context it might be useful to mention that dogs are basically shit-mills.
Especially big dogs.
Big dogs, big shits,
small dogs, small shits.
They shit everywhere, like the homeless.
We should have to get rid of both of these nuisances.
:excited:
#15059955
Can't say I agree with a 100% dry feed diet, at least for cats and larger dogs. Both should occasionally be served meat, with dry feed simply being the main course through out the week.
#15059956
Godstud wrote:Dogs are not meat- eating pets.

My medium sized dog keeps snakes out of our yard, and kills rats. She's also handy as security, as she's blindlingly fast and is still intimidating, despite being an absolute softy.

She eats a bag of dogfood in about 2 weeks. That would be about 120 lb of DOGFOOD, a year, not MEAT. 360 lb of meat? They pulled that number out of their ass.

Dogfood is not even close to 100% meat, as dogs are omnivores, and not carnivores.Few pets get fed meat on any regular basis, and if you checked ingredients, you'd know that.

This article, based on the information it gives, is suspect. it someone that hates pet and is an over-the-top environmentalist, until it comes to animals. :knife:


Dogs are meat-eating animals.

Meat may just be the most important ingredient to look for on a dog food label. That’s because the protein found in meat is unique. So, unlike most plant-based protein sources, meat naturally contains all ten essential amino acids — nutrients dogs cannot live without. What’s more, meat-based protein is easier for dogs to digest.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dog-food-meat-content/
#15059957
Have you ever watched dogs and what they eat? They eat anything and everything. Omnivores.

Only 40% of commercial dogfood is animal byproducts(meat). I edited that into my previous post a bit late for you to notice, I think.

My dog, therefore, only consumes about 50 lb of meat a year. A very small footprint and well worth it for the things she gives us, aside from companionship, security, and pest control.

Pretending that pets do not have value in terms of human companionship is to miss out on one of the primary functions of pets, and why they are worth the carbon footprint, for some.
#15060134
All living creatures can damage the planet. Animals can pollute the earth. Animals and humans can destroy forests. We humans are destroying the world's oceans. The list goes on.

Should we all just stop existing?

Whiny posts like this that just point fingers at others are just so amusing. They are rants with no definite solutions. :roll:
#15060137
AFAIK wrote:And don't say rabbits because they shit non-stop.

About those little rabbit turds...
A friend of mine collected some, coated them in powder sugar and placed them in a little bag which used to contain expensive sweets.
He offered them as sweets to his class mates and they fell for it (initially) lol.
He got caught and as a punishment he could chose to write a number of pages as punishment or eat the rest, he ate the rest.
#15060143
You can eat rabbits, cats, and dogs, so you're really just fattening them up. ;)

Pets consume insignificant amounts of meat, compared to a human, and so don't create a carbon footprint of any significance, anyways. It's BS.

They make up some fanciful figure of 360 pounds of meat for a house-pet, which is based on pure BS. Most people don't own an Irish Wolfhound that they feed T-Bone steaks. :lol:
#15060155
Dogs tend to eat three main meals a day just like us. Only a little bit of meat.

They like a mixture of food. And a few snacks.

Heck my dog loved those Dental Stick snacks alot(guess they helped with the toothache and he noticed it!).

If there was any leftovers from our dinner, he'd eat that instead (favouring the dry foods).

People who complain about Dogs eating too much meat obviously don't give the dog their leftovers and crack out the canned or "meat section Dog food" stuff way too much. Like you are too afraid to give them your leftover pasta, cerial, greens and rice .... They eat that stuff dumbass. They just have the same reaction a naughty kid has to being told to eat your greens. Leave the food and say "if you don't eat it, you go hungry, it'll be here waiting for you". Newsflash, DOGS LOVE WEETBIX WITH A LITTLE MILK, or just as a dry snack... It doubles as a Dog Treat(Dog Biscuits ARE Wheet biscuits, so don't bother buying the more expensive "Gourmet dog biscuits").

Dogs safely eat almost everything we do, except for Chocolate which is quite dangerous to them. Buy the Dog Chocolate instead, so he can still enjoy Easter with you.
#15060211
Regulation has limits, that's simply a political fact of life. All you have to do to prove that is watch what Trump is doing to regulation.

There are 2 strategies that work over the long run, banning and taxing.

The obvious choice is a tax, and let people make their choices within that constraint.

A Carbon Tax will work. If you can afford it you can have a dog or a Ferrari. Or a dog and a Ferrari.

But, for most of us, it will mean making choices, usually smaller cars and smaller dogs.

The sensible way to implement it is incrementally. When I started talking about this, I was suggest 2-5 cents/gal/yr equivalent. Which would would have been trivial. It would have taken 20 years to just get to where Europe was 20 years ago.

Now it will take several times that.

Wait another decade, and it will be twenty times that, and economically crippling.

Stupid comes with a price tag.
#15060216
Ter wrote:In this context it might be useful to mention that dogs are basically shit-mills.
Especially big dogs.
Big dogs, big shits,
small dogs, small shits.
They shit everywhere, like the homeless.
We should have to get rid of both of these nuisances.
:excited:

In this country, UK, we have to pick after our dogs or face a fine of up to £1,000. All the dog owners I know do so.
And dogs can be helpful in society. Ours is the most effective intruder alarm.
Also, he is PAT certified. You probably don't know what that means. Pets as therapy. It means he can bring comfort those in hospital or a home.

In the street where we lived, there was a lady in very poor health. She couldn't get out of her chair to do anything. Her door was remotely operated electrically. She and Max, my dog got along brilliantly. He laid by her and gave that soft gaze. Precious.

Of course we walk daily and that's good for us. We also take a neighbour's dog, a little Bedlington terrier. Max looks after him.

And if you wanted to break into our house - don't

Image
#15060271
I grew up with Great Danes. Every night they'd get a can of Ken-L-Ration dog food mixed in with some dry food. We would also include table scraps from dinner, as the dogs would be fed after the family ate. One of the dogs, Holly, could actually eat everything in her bowl except the peas.

Years later, my wife and I had Ginger, a Shepherd/Dane mix. I don't think there was anything that dog wouldn't eat. We finally had to put her down at age 17, which is ridiculously old for a large animal like that (when I was a kid our Danes died naturally at ages 7, 9, 11, 8 and 10). Ginger loved pizza, and we attribute her long life to all of the preservatives found in "people food".

Here's a picture of me with Ginger, circa 1997, in the Kitchen Creek Falls area of San Diego's back country:

Image
#15060390
BigSteve wrote:I grew up with Great Danes. Every night they'd get a can of Ken-L-Ration dog food mixed in with some dry food. We would also include table scraps from dinner, as the dogs would be fed after the family ate. One of the dogs, Holly, could actually eat everything in her bowl except the peas.

Years later, my wife and I had Ginger, a Shepherd/Dane mix. I don't think there was anything that dog wouldn't eat. We finally had to put her down at age 17, which is ridiculously old for a large animal like that (when I was a kid our Danes died naturally at ages 7, 9, 11, 8 and 10). Ginger loved pizza, and we attribute her long life to all of the preservatives found in "people food".

Here's a picture of me with Ginger, circa 1997, in the Kitchen Creek Falls area of San Diego's back country:

Image

Lovely dog.

I think I may be a bit older than you. I grew up on a farm in Scotland's hills. Lots of hills, sheep, and collies. This was mine.

Image
Taken around 1960 I think.
#15060445
Robert Urbanek wrote:The average-sized dog consumes about 360 pounds of meat a year

Really???

Our dog weighs 40 kg. Almost 90 lb. Quite a bit bigger than your average dog.
He gets 43.8 kg of meat per year.
That's 96.5 pounds per year.
#15060446
Robert Urbanek wrote:The average-sized dog consumes about 360 pounds of meat a year and its impact on the environment is double that of a typical SUV. “Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat,” says John Barrett of the Stockholm Environment Institute.

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/20/the_surprisingly_large_carbon_paw_print_of_your_beloved_pet_partner/

Cats are not much better. If you really care about the planet, do not acquire a meat-eating pet. Also, many pet food bags and toys are made of plastic, another environmental hazard.

The argument that cats and dogs mainly eat the remains of animals not consumed by humans also falls short as those remains can be recycled into other products. And, of course, if humans eat less meat to preserve the environment, there will be less remnants for pets to consume anyway.


You just kicked up a shit storm. :lol:

There was another thread where I said that pet ownership is unethical, because they encourage the meat industry and produce a lot of waste (toys, gadgets, etc. etc.). I got a lot of shit for it.

Good to see I'm not alone in being anti-pets, and it's good to see some actual data, as I've previously just been going on a hunch that pets have a large carbon footprint. A large Dog's foot print can be 2x an SUV, that's significant

Aside from that, I find the idea of having a pet inside the house absolutely revolting. Rubbing their anuses on fucking everything. :lol: Would you let me sit on your couch naked after having a shit?

@Ter, sounds like you are anti-pets as well? Stand tall! I stand with you! :lol:

All that said, I dont think we should ban pet ownership or anytjing like that, but let's not kid ourselves that it's harmless either.
Last edited by Rancid on 20 Jan 2020 15:18, edited 2 times in total.
#15060447
Besoeker2 wrote:Our dog weighs 40 kg. Almost 90 lb. Quite a bit bigger than your average dog.
He gets 43.8 kg of meat per year.
That's 96.5 pounds per year.


Assuming you are being honest, that's rouhgly 50% of an SUV's carbon footprint (maybe close to 100% of a small car) a year. That's still significant.
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