In recent years pet ownership has boomed, with many people welcoming so-called ‘pandemic puppies’ and ‘Covid kittens’ into their homes, says Justine Shotton, director of the not-for-profit organisation Vet Sustain.
This has been mirrored by increasing trends in extreme breeds, which often come with a range of health issues, as well as social media-fuelled fads of pet costumes, ‘prime meat’ diets and even cafés selling puppaccinos and doggie ice cream.
While it’s fair to say we love our pets as much as ever, many of these new trends are not only bad for our pets, risking disease and obesity, but are also harmful to our planet.
It's well worth considering how we can reduce our pets’ carbon footprints or should that be ‘pawprints’, keeping them in a more sustainable way.
How to reduce your pet's carbon footprint
The great news about reducing our pets’ carbon pawprint is that for almost every action we take, we’re also improving their welfare, giving them a better quality of life and saving us money – a win-win situation.
We can reduce the carbon pawprints of our pets by keeping them healthy in the first place: good preventative healthcare – such as vaccinations, good nutrition, daily teeth brushing and parasite management – can help, as can seeking quality vet advice early if you have concerns about their health.
Health
Keeping them in tip-top condition will help reduce the number of medicines and anaesthetics they may require throughout their lifetimes, as well as significantly improving their lives and reducing your vet bills - something we’re all mindful of in this cost-of-living crisis.
It’s important to consider what medicines and treatments we use for our pets. In recent years, fipronil and imidacloprid, which are chemicals found in topical spot-on parasite treatments, have been found in worrying concentrations in our waterways, with a recent study suggesting this could occur when we wash our hands after applying such products to our pets.
It’s not just parasiticides we need to be cautious with – antibiotics can also end up in the environment, and as one of the biggest challenges we face as a species is preserving the future of functional antibiotics, we need to act now.
It’s essential we keep our pets healthy and treat flea infestations or health issues but now we have these additional environmental risks to consider, we must all work together to be more responsible and use these products in a risk-based way to minimise these impacts.
Speaking to your vet about the best parasite treatment and protection regime for your pet is the best way to balance our pets’ health and the planet’s health.
Buying vs rehoming
Serious consideration should be given to where you source your pet and what breed you choose. Rehoming a pet is always a more sustainable option, while choosing and promoting ownership of healthy breeds which can thrive without significant veterinary intervention will also dramatically reduce their carbon pawprint.
Breed
We need to move away from the worrying trend of buying pets we perceive as ‘cute’ but suffer desperately, such as extreme breeds with very short noses ( brachycephalic pets), and towards more healthier breeds that will thrive.
The number and size of pets is also worth considering - smaller pets tend to have lower impact on the environment and for many species, focussing on one pet may allow you to give them a better quality of life - although there are some exceptions such as rabbits and guinea pigs who are highly social and need to be kept with other members of their species.
Food
One of the greatest elements of your pet’s carbon pawprint is from their food – not only what we are feeding, but also how much.
Shockingly, despite decades of veterinary advice, around half of UK cats and dogs are overweight or obese. This not only causes significant welfare issues, from decreased mobility, increased arthritis and other serious conditions such as diabetes, but also is exceedingly wasteful – for our wallets and the planet's resources.
Feeding your pet to their ideal, lean ‘body condition’, which your vet can help advise you on, is critical to reduce this impact on the planet.
It’s also worth considering what you feed your pet. While exact impacts across studies vary, the consensus is that feeding dry pet food has significantly lower impacts (around half the impacts) compared to feeding wet food.
This is generally to do with the ingredient compositions and the way these ingredients’ impacts are calculated - particularly in the case of meat and “animal by-products” - the nutritious meat products commonly used in pet foods, which are fit for human consumption but not commonly eaten by people, so may otherwise be wasted.
Beyond this, foods marketed as ‘fresh’, ‘raw’, or including ‘prime cuts’ have hugely more significant environmental impacts than the average, complete pet food. There is no evidence to suggest that these foods, often marketed as premium, are better for our pets’ health - and they are often more expensive for owners - so it’s best to avoid these and opt for a complete pet food instead.
Be aware that cats are ‘obligate’ carnivores, meaning they require the nutrients found in meat to thrive, and it’s hard to easily supplement these from other sources, whereas dogs are much more omnivorous and are well-adapted to starch-based diets.
As with our own diets, pet diets with a higher proportion of plants will have a lower impact, and companies are developing and producing more sustainable healthy pet foods all the time - including vegetarian and vegan foods for dogs, and other proteins for dogs and cats, such as cell-cultured meat and insect-based foods. It’s always important to consult your vet before changing your pet’s diet.
While it’s extremely difficult to determine exactly what goes into your pet’s food from the label, to keep your carbon pawprint low, choose a nutritionally complete dry food for your pet, ideally with a high proportion of sustainable plants (potatoes are a good low-impact option) and avoid premium fresh, raw or prime diets, and to talk to your vet about tailoring your pet’s diet to their health.
Wellbeing
Many of us have heard how devastating the effects of our cats hunting native wildlife can be on ecosystems or know leaving pet waste in the environment results in a number of hazards.
But a study has shown that as little as a few minutes’ play with your cat, mimicking predation-type behaviours, can significantly reduce their appetite for hunting wildlife.
Similarly, microchip-scanning cat-flaps, which can be set to allow exit only at certain times of day and night, can also help to keep your cat indoors during dusk and dawn, when the majority of cats hunt.
- How can I stop my cat hunting wildlife?
- Why do cats play with their prey?
- How wild is your cat? 5 behaviours that reveal your cat's secret wild side.
Likewise, simply picking-up after your pet can have a huge impact, not only reducing the zoonotic risk (where humans can pick up parasites and infections from the pet waste), but also helping to keep livestock healthy due to eliminating parts of parasite life cycles.
Finally, try to think more from your pet’s perspective. In our world fuelled by dopamine hits and likes on Instagram, it’s all too easy to be drawn into the latest trends or fads. But posting a picture of your pooch in a costume or buying plastic toys your pet won’t ever use can contribute to huge negative impacts on the planet.
These tips for your pet will not only help keep them healthy and happy but will end up saving you money too.
We want to see a world where every animal is treated with kindness and respect, and we owe it to our future generations to give them the joy of pet ownership; and we owe it to our pets, and the pets of the future, to give them their best lives.
Look out for Justine Shotton’s book “How to reduce your carbon pawprint”, which will be on the shelves near you in upcoming months!
