In my opinion, this over the top idea isn’t sustainable at any level. On a personal note, my cat eats with a footprint more like a Volkswagen microbus. I think I’ll give “Minners” a can of doplhin safe tuna tonight, just for spite.
By TANYA KATTERNS – The Dominion Post
Save the planet: time to eat dog?
The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found.
Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.
The couple have assessed the carbon emissions created by popular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them.
“If you have a German shepherd or similar-sized dog, for example, its impact every year is exactly the same as driving a large car around,” Brenda Vale said.
“A lot of people worry about having SUVs but they don’t worry about having Alsatians and what we are saying is, well, maybe you should be because the environmental impact … is comparable.”
In a study published in New Scientist, they calculated a medium dog eats 164 kilograms of meat and 95kg of cereals every year. It takes 43.3 square metres of land to produce 1kg of chicken a year. This means it takes 0.84 hectares to feed Fido.
They compared this with the footprint of a Toyota Land Cruiser, driven 10,000km a year, which uses 55.1 gigajoules (the energy used to build and fuel it). One hectare of land can produce 135 gigajoules a year, which means the vehicle’s eco-footprint is 0.41ha – less than half of the dog’s.
They found cats have an eco-footprint of 0.15ha – slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf. Hamsters have a footprint of 0.014ha – keeping two of them is equivalent to owning a plasma TV.
Professor Vale says the title of the book is meant to shock, but the couple, who do not have a cat or dog, believe the reintroduction of non-carnivorous pets into urban areas would help slow down global warming.
“The title of the book is a little bit of a shock tactic, I think, but though we are not advocating eating anyone’s pet cat or dog there is certainly some truth in the fact that if we have edible pets like chickens for their eggs and meat, and rabbits and pigs, we will be compensating for the impact of other things on our environment.”
Professor Vale took her message to Wellington City Council last year, but councillors said banning traditional pets or letting people keep food animals in their homes were not acceptable options.
[Gee, ya think?]
Kelly Jeffery, a Paraparaumu german shepherd breeder who once owned a large SUV, said eliminating traditional pets was “over the top”.
“I think we need animals because they are a positive in our society. We can all make little changes to reduce carbon footprints but without pointing the finger at pets, which are part of family networks.”
Owning rabbits is legal anywhere. Local bodies allow chickens, with some restrictions.
Full story here: Save the planet: time to eat dog?
###
h/t to WUWT reader GA
Do hybrid’s have a lower carbon footprint?
How about a nice guinea pig, marinated overnight and barbequed http://www.shelfordfeast.co.uk/guineapig.html
Sorry folks but I have roses and Orchids for pets. Know of any good rose petal soup recipies
“Miles (16:21:22) :
Maybe they should just make edible cars. You can have a car that runs on vegetable oil – it should come from the dealer with different plots from tomatoes to corn and maybe a small rabbit too. When the car finally dies, you just bury it in the ground and plant more veggies – I feel better now.”
Or we could just take a leaf out of the Flintstones 🙂
Take the motor out of our cars and have them powered by pet exercise wheels. You could have a choice of Guinea Pig Powered cars, Rat Powered Cars , Cat Powered Cars or Dog Powered Cars. Now Your pet would be sanctioned as Carbon neutral.
Seriously though. The Greenies and the AGW/Climate Change Alarmists are getting more demented by the minute.
Wait! Don’t fat people have a higher carbon foot print? Should Al Gore (at his present weight) be illegal?
Patrick Davis (19:20:28) :
“Rick Sharp (18:51:49) :
Climate change protesters bitten by police dogs
I hope the dogs are OK.”
Those people were whining like the dogs were only there as the policeman’s pets.
Here in the US we don’t apologize when people get themselves bitten by a police dog – they are considered a “non-lethal” alternative, well usually non-lethal.
Interestingly, in many states the dogs are considered police officers, and killing or injurying one is the same as a human officer.
The authors of this one… I’d bet the rent money they were sitting around a campfire, drunk as skunks, and the question came up “what is THE dumbest thing we could say?”
and edible pets as a “sustainable” lifestyle was what they remembered the next morning. That is the only explanation that makes any sense for this drivel. Being able to say things like this with a straight face (because it is a joke, they have got to be testing how far society has gone from the ability to think) certainly shows acting talent, but not much else.
Then again when you see the word “sustainable” these days, it’s best to prepare for something mind-numbingly inane (or insane, per spell-check’s suggestion).
“Professors” Brenda and Robert Vale need to get a real job that actually produces something of value. People like them should never be allowed to teach at a University.
Is it April 1st already?
These people are wingnuts! Apparently there is no value in anything in life except reducing carbon. I’ll take dogs best friend & a few degrees of warming over the alternative any day!
Some of you just won’t be able to do it. So I heard ants are pretty good!
U.N. Conference Promotes Insect-Eating for Everyone From Famine Victims to Astronauts
Prof. Arnold van Huis, a tropical entomologist known as “Mr. Edible Insect” in his native Netherlands, blamed a Western bias against eating insects for the failure of aid agencies to incorporate bugs into their mix.
“They are completely biased,” van Huis said. “They really have to change. I would urge other donor organizations to take a different attitude toward this … It’s excellent food. It can be sustainable with precautions.”
DGallagher (19:37:43) :
Patrick Davis (19:20:28) :
“Rick Sharp (18:51:49) :
Climate change protesters bitten by police dogs
I hope the dogs are OK.”
Yes they are fine. They are members of PETA – Police dogs Eating Tastey Activists
“A lot of people worry about having SUVs but they don’t worry about having Alsatians and what we are saying is, well, maybe you should be because the environmental impact … is comparable.”
Oh do I wish the entire world could see the nuttiness of this!!!
Food preferences are a regional cultural curiosity with it’s roots based on what’s available and economical in a particular area. You won’t find many Yankees that will eat grits or okra for example; or Hindus that eat beef; or Muslims, pork. As for dogs, they’re not half bad properly prepared. Monkey is also good. As are most other foodstuffs from around the world that discerning omnivores consume for enjoyment as well as nutrition.
It’s obvious to me that the authors are expressing their own cultural leanings (limited by their no-doubt provincial upbringing ) regarding food choices, and overlaying that with a crass attempt to capitalize on the currently popular sport of apocalyptic pronouncements a’la the “Left Behind” series of fantasy fiction.
They are welcome to their parochial view of what constitutes suitable cuisine, but it will have exactly zero impact on my palate, regardless of their feeble attempt to dissuade me by appealing to my (non-existent ) “fear” of the end of the world. If such comes to pass, I will treat myself to an exotic lunch and toast our time on earth with a fine wine.
Al Gore has alot more meat on him than my chihuahua does… he has a larger carbon footprint too… Also… isn’t there some guy in this administration that wants dogs to be able to hire lawyers?
I’m gonna hire a rabid lawyer for Poncho…
Mike
“DGallagher (19:37:43) :
Patrick Davis (19:20:28) :
“Rick Sharp (18:51:49) :
Climate change protesters bitten by police dogs
I hope the dogs are OK.”
Those people were whining like the dogs were only there as the policeman’s pets.
Here in the US we don’t apologize when people get themselves bitten by a police dog – they are considered a “non-lethal” alternative, well usually non-lethal.
Interestingly, in many states the dogs are considered police officers, and killing or injurying one is the same as a human officer.”
Ah yes, but this is in the UK where the Police are, usually, restricted from doing their job, especially in cases like this and others in recent decades (Animal liberation, anti-road builders (tree huggers) etc etc…
It seems in this case the Police are trying to send a message to like-minded people. Lets hope it gets through.
As for the protesters at the coal fired power station, (Just outside Nottingham).
Did anyone in the UK notice that they were all too young to have known the cold years? (Too young to have known the prior warm years is obvious.
DaveE.
Why stop with dogs? Babies are more tender, and dining on them would reduce population pressure: click
I think that the only reason that most societies don’t eat dogs and cats are only because they are carnivores. It has nothing to do with them being companions. Humans just don’t generally eat carnivores. Some eat bear (omnivores) and seals (mostly seafood). Could be a taste thing, could be a health thing, could be a farming thing. We just don’t eat mammals that eat other mammals.
PETA isn’t going to like their suggestion one little bit: click1, click2.
gtrip: does that mean I can chow down on my parakeet?
I find this very hard to believe. Taking a second look at the figures I notice the Land Cruiser is being driven only 10,000km a year, and right away I see a problem. Even when I lived in Britain – a small, densely populated island where the longest trip across country can be accomplished in a day – my average annual mileage was about 14,000. Or more than twice the 10,000 km they’re assuming. That’s in a country where everything is fairly close together – here in Oz everything is further apart so if anything I expect my annual mileage to have gone up. Since the Vales have been so optimistic about vehicle miles I wonder if the same applies to their assumptions for energy expended in manufacturing the vehicle. Compared to the production of cats and dogs, which appear to require no factories, machinery (with its own manufacturing costs ) or skilled labour (which also comes with a carbon footprint), and little extra energy, I’d have thought that making something as large and complex as a Land Cruiser would be pretty energy intensive. And is finding oil, extracting it, refining into fuel and distributing it to my local servo is more energy intensive than making dog biscuits and cat food? Cheaper than going into the bush and shooting a couple of roos in the face for the meat? Again, seems like a stretch unless you are very optimistic about fuel production costs and pessimistic about pet food production.
Bill Illis (18:27:02) :
We wash the dishes using recycled waste water and …
According to Cate Blanchett drink it too
…drink their own wastewater.
http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2007/10/blanchett_cate?currentPage=5
She also says that leaf blowers “sum up everything that is wrong with the human race”
David Walton (17:49:59) :
Since when were pets not edible?
Steve (17:58:30) :
Since the time when pets had as much status and love as many of the children in that family!
All of my pets obeyed me more often than any of my kids. Plus I never had to bail any of them out of jail!
How wonderful for you. Sorry to hear about the trouble with kids. (They are edible too, by the way.) Perhaps you missed the more subtle context of my statement. Unless you stuff, embalm. or cremate your expired pet, they are edible. Heck, they are even edible while still alive. Just ask any parasite be it animal or fungus.
Worms, scavengers, bacteria, insects, and a whole host of other critters and plants have to dine too. It is part of the great scheme of things. If nature hates anything, it is waste. (And no, I don’t mean waste products, plenty of critters and plants dine on that too.)
As far as the human consumption of pets goes, many pets if more than a year old tend to be stringy, greasy and tough. Even boiling them doesn’t help much. Just try turning a year old chicken into anything but broth and you will see what I mean. Pets are best served when young and tender.
😀
Solutions:
Mass castration
Mass suicide
Destroy all volcanoes
Force people to take charcoal pills to stop them from farting
Feed charcoal pills to all animals on the planet
Controlled breathing; breathe once every 20 seconds
Stop moving alltogether, stay plugged on the internet all day long
A new law: You cut a tree, you die
eeeeerrrrr….
Invent “carbon footprint” buzzword to scare people and make them feel bad
Live in the dark, use night vision to find your way around
What about CO2 emissions during forest fires ignited by lightning?
Solution: Pass a law that makes thunderstorms illegal: lightning causes fires
If lightning does occur, capture it and send it to prison as an example
What to say to rebellious lightning in case of non cooperation: “Stupid lightning! Stop striking you stupid lightning! Ok?”
Ban the internet and all computers, CO2.
Zeke the Sneak (19:53:54) :
DGallagher (19:37:43) :
Patrick Davis (19:20:28) :
“Rick Sharp (18:51:49) :
Climate change protesters bitten by police dogs
I hope the dogs are OK.”
If these protesters were as unshowered as the ones I saw in Berkeley protesting the cutting down of a tree a few months ago the dogs are probably already sick.
Trying to understand why someone would be so unreasonably motivated to study the carbon paw prints of pets and recommend eating your pets for sustainability, I followed a hunch and googled to see if there are any known phobias or disorders tied to CO2. Much to my surprise, there is. The ASAP Dictionary of Anxiety and Panic Disorders states: “People with panic disorder are more sensitive to CO2 than others.”
Observation of the panic ridden messages of AGW doomsayers tends to confirm a very high sensitivity to CO2 in these individuals.