Early this year, New Scientist had an article which (rightly) raised concerns about environmental impact of pets but failed to raise the concerns of impact of pet foods on pets.
Onus is on us when we start caring about both pet's and environment. Onus only if we think and act so otherwise its a blessing in disguise. Most of the pet food in the market is awful and loaded with chemicals. Especially those killer treats laden with BHA/BPA. This is the number one reason for cancer in dogs. These things are worse for both environment and pets. Nina Sheh has a great reply to New Scientist piece on this Slate article (I missed the chance, Emerson was right):
"What's an eco-conscious pet owner to do? The way the Lantern sees it, there are two options worth exploring. The first is a variation on one of our cardinal rules for humans: Eat less meat. Some vegans and vegetarians put their cats and dogs on equally abstemious diets. The Lantern doesn't believe humans should be required to give up all meat, so she's not going to suggest that your pet should, either. But according to Marion Nestle—a public-health and nutrition expert who's recently been focusing her attention on pet food—the research clearly shows that dogs and cats can get all the nutrients they need from complete-and-balanced, all-veggie commercial foods. (No one has done any long-term clinical trials comparing various diet options, however.) Even if you don't want to take meat out of the equation entirely, you might be able to cut back, by replacing some of your pet's fleshy fare with grain-and-vegetable-based meals."
That's exactly what Max gets. He get about 40% of "recommended" portion of kibble and rest fruits and vegetables. His kibbles are organic too. All his treats are organic and mostly meatless. He loves them and keeps him healthy, his lustrous coat says it all.
The best thing is he is so used to it that if he eats raw hide, canned food et al his stomach gets upset and shows up next day on the carpet. So its a win-win situation. Thank goodness, he has been on this diet ever since he was a puppy after I educated myself about the pet food. Lot of ingredients in the pet food are banned by FDA for human consumption. Just go to FDA website and check each one of the ingredient on dog food. It's heart breaking to see so many dogs get cancer. Convenience and low cost of pet food shouldn't be the reason for dogs to suffer in old age. We owe them much more than that. As Daniel Goleman says in Ecological Intelligence - "Lets vote with our wallet" and in the process, we can save the environment and keep our pets healthy as well (and its not expensive like Whole foods either).
"What's an eco-conscious pet owner to do? The way the Lantern sees it, there are two options worth exploring. The first is a variation on one of our cardinal rules for humans: Eat less meat. Some vegans and vegetarians put their cats and dogs on equally abstemious diets. The Lantern doesn't believe humans should be required to give up all meat, so she's not going to suggest that your pet should, either. But according to Marion Nestle—a public-health and nutrition expert who's recently been focusing her attention on pet food—the research clearly shows that dogs and cats can get all the nutrients they need from complete-and-balanced, all-veggie commercial foods. (No one has done any long-term clinical trials comparing various diet options, however.) Even if you don't want to take meat out of the equation entirely, you might be able to cut back, by replacing some of your pet's fleshy fare with grain-and-vegetable-based meals."
That's exactly what Max gets. He get about 40% of "recommended" portion of kibble and rest fruits and vegetables. His kibbles are organic too. All his treats are organic and mostly meatless. He loves them and keeps him healthy, his lustrous coat says it all.
The best thing is he is so used to it that if he eats raw hide, canned food et al his stomach gets upset and shows up next day on the carpet. So its a win-win situation. Thank goodness, he has been on this diet ever since he was a puppy after I educated myself about the pet food. Lot of ingredients in the pet food are banned by FDA for human consumption. Just go to FDA website and check each one of the ingredient on dog food. It's heart breaking to see so many dogs get cancer. Convenience and low cost of pet food shouldn't be the reason for dogs to suffer in old age. We owe them much more than that. As Daniel Goleman says in Ecological Intelligence - "Lets vote with our wallet" and in the process, we can save the environment and keep our pets healthy as well (and its not expensive like Whole foods either).
No comments:
Post a Comment