Many of you will have pets whether that is the more common
cats and dogs or something slightly more unusual like reptiles or insects. I
for example have a snake and my family have recently got a new puppy. I have
always grown up with dogs and they’re for me like many people a part of my
life. But they do of course have an environmental cost.
Both cats and dogs are naturally carnivores and so they need
meat as part of their diet, this isn’t a problem within its self but it’s the
production of this food which causes the problems and with the number of pet
owners constantly growing the demand is only getting larger.
The UK in 2014 had 9 million dogs with 24% of households
owning a dog and 7.9 million cats meaning 18% of UK households own a cat. These
sorts of percentage of pet owners are common across the developed world and
countless feral and stray cats and dogs are also found but not taken into
account. This is an awful lot of animals which need feeding.
The point I’m trying to get across with this post isn’t the
fact that everyone should get rid of their pets as I know for a fact I’d never
be talked into that. But I want everyone to evaluate the type of food they feed
their pet and see if it is the best option for both the animal and the
environment.
Of course you should consult an professional vet if you are
considering a drastic change in your pets diet or have a trial period to see
how your animals fairs. The fact is though it’s hard to say things like this in
general as of course there are many different breeds of dogs and they all live
different lifestyles. For instance a working dog on a farm will require more
food in general compared to a family pet.
Another point I’d like to make about pets is you need to be
responsible when it comes to breeding in general it’s better to get your pet
spaded or neutered as if left fertile pets and especially cats as they go out
on their own will breed and multiple rapidly. Also even if your cat for example
is male it could be mixing with the feral population and increasing their
numbers. Which just create more animals to feed and look after.
The final point I want to make is about cats and dogs and
their effects on local wildlife. This goes for both pets and feral animals but
they are decimating native animals across the world. For instance in Australia
75 million native animals are killed each night by feral cats. There has been a
case of a single cat called Tibbles who over the course of a few nights killed
the entire population of Stephen island wrens (in New Zealand) when a lighthouse
keeper brought his cat with him. I guess there isn’t much you can do with this
information simply don’t encourage your pet to hunt, but also understand that
in some cases it is necessary to
Thanks for reading
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