“Reducing the rate of dog and cat ownership, perhaps in favor of other pets that offer similar health and emotional benefits would considerably reduce these impacts,”
(Emily Zanotti – Daily Wire) According to a study out Monday on global climate change, your dog (or your cat) is probably killing the environment, and if you want to stem the tide of global warming, it’s time to say “good-bye” to Fido and Fluffy.
The study, which appears in the online journal PLOS, claims the human compulsion to seek out animal companionship is one of the primary factors affecting our climate, particularly in the United States where there are 163 million companion animals — roughly one pet for every two Americans — the highest number of any country in the world.
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia claim that those 163 million pets have a detrimental impact on the environment, from the food they consume to the waste they produce.
“In the US, there are more than 163 million dogs and cats that consume, as a significant portion of their diet, animal products and therefore potentially constitute a considerable dietary footprint,” the study’s abstract proclaims. “Here, the energy and animal-derived product consumption of these pets in the US is evaluated for the first time, as are the environmental impacts from the animal products fed to them, including feces production.”