The information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice. Please consult your veterinarian before changing your dog’s diet.
Two years ago, a rescue worker introduced me to a dog named Ginny. You know the story: Boy meets dog. Dog puts paw in boy’s hand. Boy’s heart melts. Dog moves in. Communication styles occasionally clash, but the two develop a ferocious bond.
Then boy discovers dog eats brains. Not her fault—it was in her food.
What followed was a journey that culminated in my discovering why a growing number of people—including celebrities like Alicia Silverstone and Joaquin Phoenix—are feeding their dogs plant-based food: It’s a healthier alternative that is dramatically better for the planet and that spares animals from needless suffering.
Turns out, lots of dog food is made from so-called “meat meal” and “meat byproducts”—the latter being a catchall for the slaughterhouse waste that humans can’t or won’t eat. That includes: diseased and disabled animals, brains, blood, feet, necks, heads, udders, bones, and entrails.
Both meat meal and byproduct meal are mixed with unspecified quantities of feces, manure, beaks, and hooves. To make it all “safe” to eat, it’s blasted at extremely high temperatures until it becomes a liquid or powder meal that can be infused into animal food and served to our companion animals.
No wonder dog guardians are switching to one of the increasing number of plant-based dog foods on the market. And no wonder researchers are finding that it’s healthier.
A peer-reviewed analysis of 2,596 dogs found that the healthiest and least hazardous diet was plant-based. Dogs on conventional, meat-based diets suffered more health disorders, required more medications, and needed more frequent veterinary visits.
A Western University study switched dogs onto a plant-based diet for a year and found that they thrived and had lower obesity rates after making the switch. In another study, Australian researchers found that even sprint-racing Siberian Huskies did well on a plant-based diet.
I asked Ginny’s vet if I was crazy to consider feeding Ginny a plant-based diet. She told me it was perfectly healthy as long as it was appropriately formulated, and she confirmed the option I was considering fit the bill. Ginny’s been thriving on a plant-based diet ever since.
And it’s not just about health.
The environmental benefits are enormous. The United Nations reports that global meat production generates more emissions than the entire transportation industry—cars, planes, ships, and trucks combined.
As for our companion animals, UCLA researchers estimate they account for 25-30% of the environmental impact from meat production. If U.S. pets formed their own adorable country, their meat consumption would rival Brazil’s. The 90-million American dogs are metaphorical SUVs, and we can take those cars off the road by simply choosing a healthy alternative.
The meat industry claims that dog food is “eco-friendly” because it uses body parts that would otherwise end up in landfills.
This argument ignores reality and basic economics. If dogs stopped eating meat-based food—only some of which is made from byproducts—at every meal, demand would fall. As a result, producers would breed fewer animals for consumption.
How many fewer? Billions, according to UK Researchers. They found that switching dogs to plant-based food globally would reduce emissions more than those produced by the entire United Kingdom and would save more land than the size of Mexico. These environmental gains alone dwarf the benefits of not wasting certain byproducts.
There is no need to kill farmed animals to feed companion animals who can thrive on plants. Farmed animals are no less intrinsically valuable or worthy than our dogs, but they are raised in conditions I’m convinced would be abhorrent to any dog lover.
Nearly all factory-farmed animals endure mutilations without anesthesia, lifelong confinement, neglect, and physical abuse before slaughter. If dogs were subjected to this, the perpetrators would be arrested and labeled psychopaths.
Many people assume plant-based dog food is less tasty, but there’s no evidence for that. On the contrary, an analysis of 2,308 dogs showed no apparent difference in taste between meat and plant-based dog food.
Ginny devours her plant-based kibble. When I top it off with plant-based wet food, she loses her mind.
My boy-meets-dog story turned out like any other. Except that after boy learns conventional dog food contains brains and feces, boy switched to food that doesn’t. I urge you to consider doing the same. It’s healthier, better for the environment, and helps fight animal suffering and needless killing.
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