Dec 21, 2009
PARIS - MAN'S best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.
But the revelation in the book 'Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living' by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers.
The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.
Combine the land required to generate its food and a 'medium' sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares - around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres a year, including energy to build the car.
To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same. 'Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat,' he said.
Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say. Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones. -- AFP
[Oh goody! The Environmentalist can fight with the Animal Lover.]
PARIS - MAN'S best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.
But the revelation in the book 'Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living' by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers.
The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.
Combine the land required to generate its food and a 'medium' sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares - around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres a year, including energy to build the car.
To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same. 'Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat,' he said.
Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say. Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones. -- AFP
[Oh goody! The Environmentalist can fight with the Animal Lover.]
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