Author Topic: Save the planet---Eat your dog...  (Read 5983 times)

Offline G-man

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2047
  • Cogito sumere potum alterum.
Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« on: October 22, 2009, 04:52:51 PM »
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/2987821/Save-the-planet-eat-a-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 bypopular 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.

Kelly Jeffery, a Paraparaumu german shepherd breederwho 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.

YOUR PET'S MARK

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf). Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

Life may not be the party we hoped for---but while we're here--we might as well dance..........

Offline mtnman

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 30
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2009, 05:22:30 PM »
Now all I have to do is get my Lab to stop talking on my cell phone and using the GPS while she drives the cat to the feed store in my truck.   ::loony::
sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday....see, there is no "someday"!

Offline TheSoccerMom

  • Chicken Farmer
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2590
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2009, 05:30:06 PM »
 ::bow::

Haaa, I was just thinking the same thing....!!  Too good!!  (and, True....)....    ::loony::

 ::)
Don't make me come back there!!!!

Offline cotejy

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 252
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2009, 07:56:52 PM »
I don't know you will all throw rocks at me for saying this but I'm kind of tired of the "environementalist" thinking. As if nothing else mathers, or as if you can say anything if it's for the "cause".

Pets don't eat meat, they eat what human can't or won't eat (chickens skin, bones, neck, heads,...).  And environement isn't the only thing in life. I'm in better shape since I own a dog. I wake up earlier just to have a 30 minute walk with my dog daily. Could I have gone for a walk daily without a dog? Of course not.

Environementalist should pay more attention to things that make a real difference than studing thinks like eco-footprint of dogs. I'm sure there won't be any dog owner who would shoot his dog after reading this story. But the same effort on trying to change some garbage management politics could have avioded 3 couches and a ton of misc garbage to be burned on my driveway last weekend.

Offline G-man

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2047
  • Cogito sumere potum alterum.
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2009, 09:06:05 PM »
I actually like dogs---the black ones do taste better though.
Life may not be the party we hoped for---but while we're here--we might as well dance..........

Offline Mike

  • Supreme Overlord
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3384
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2009, 12:40:51 AM »
What I always wonder with things like this (and this isn't really the craziest study I've ever heard of by a long shot) is:

Who pays these scientists to research things like that? ?

 ::thinking:: ::whistle::
Dear IRS: Please cancel my subscription.

Offline Stef

  • Supreme Overlord
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 807
    • Chicken Wings
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2009, 12:52:28 AM »
What I always wonder with things like this (and this isn't really the craziest study I've ever heard of by a long shot) is:

Who pays these scientists to research things like that? ?

 ::thinking:: ::whistle::

And what is that scientists carbon pawprint... I mean footprint?!?

And why is carbon bad in the first place? I feel a bit offended as a carbon based lifeform...

Offline Oddball

  • Chicken Farmer
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2420
  • I crash better than anybody I know
    • Myspace profile
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2009, 07:12:48 AM »
I do like dogs...........but cant manage a whole one by myself.
"You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"and "spring chicken to sh**e hawk in one easy lesson"

Offline mtnman

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 30
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2009, 12:39:31 PM »
As Mark Twin once said:
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday....see, there is no "someday"!

Offline cotejy

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 252
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2009, 02:22:26 PM »
I actually like dogs---the black ones do taste better though.

You would have loved my old cat. I tried as hard as I could to produce steak from her. She was black and white and I named her holstein. The stupid thing would refuse to eat hay and never exceeded 10 pounds. Not talking about the poor milk production.

Offline G-man

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2047
  • Cogito sumere potum alterum.
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2009, 03:46:47 PM »
You would have loved my old cat.

Tried cat too...my neighbors in Hawaii were transplants from the Philippines...they would have bar-b-ques and invite me to join. They kept cats in a cage in the yard that would "disappear" around that time....but had a free range duck as a pet. They were sure to tell me the duck was NOT food... And no, I'm not joking for once...  ::sick::
Life may not be the party we hoped for---but while we're here--we might as well dance..........

Offline Oddball

  • Chicken Farmer
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2420
  • I crash better than anybody I know
    • Myspace profile
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2009, 04:09:50 PM »
Did any cats go "missing" from that neighbour hood G-man?
"You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"and "spring chicken to sh**e hawk in one easy lesson"

Offline cotejy

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 252
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2009, 05:55:49 PM »
I was smiling through your post until I hit this last part.

Quote
And no, I'm not joking for once...

 ::sick:: ::loony:: ::unbelieveable::

Offline BrianGMFS

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 429
  • My other car is a Firefly
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2009, 10:20:08 PM »
Hmmmm, Let's see. From what these people are saying, I myself am solely responsible for global warming ::eek::

I mean, I Currently drive a 3,900 pound V-8 powered Mercury Grand Marquise and at one time, Rose and I had Ten (Count em'... 10) German Shepherds... Not to mention the 1977 Ford Ranchero that weighed nearly 5000 pounds and could pass everything but a gas station....



Brian

-

"Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me."

Offline Ragwing

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 350
Re: Save the planet---Eat your dog...
« Reply #14 on: October 24, 2009, 03:00:39 PM »
They kept cats in a cage in the yard that would "disappear" around that time.