A new study has found that the carbon footprint of premium dog foods can surpass that of their owners’ diets, with some brands generating up to 65 times more emissions than others. Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Exeter calculated the environmental impact of nearly 1,000 commercially available dog foods, covering a variety of types including dry, wet, raw, plant-based, and grain-free options.
Vast Differences in Environmental Impact
The study highlights a dramatic disparity in the environmental cost of pet foods, with wet, raw, and meat-rich products significantly contributing to higher emissions compared to standard dry kibble. Surprisingly, dry foods marketed as “grain-free” were also found to have a higher carbon footprint than their non-grain-free counterparts. Researchers noted that the use of prime meat cuts, typically intended for human consumption, exacerbates the climate impact, while lower-demand cuts produce a smaller carbon footprint.
The findings suggest that plant-based dog foods could offer a potential reduction in emissions, although the study revealed that only a limited number of such options were available. In the UK alone, the production of ingredients for dog food is responsible for around 1% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. If the entire global dog population were fed similar food to that consumed by UK dogs, the emissions could equate to over half of those generated by commercial air travel every year.
John Harvey, the principal investigator of the study and a veterinary surgeon focused on environmental sustainability, stated that many dog owners are caught between the traditional view of dogs as meat-eating “wolves” and their desire to reduce their environmental impact. He emphasized the wide range of environmental effects that different dog foods can have, stressing that making informed choices can significantly lower the carbon footprint.
As the popularity of pets continues to rise, the researchers are calling for clearer labelling and greater transparency from pet food companies. They encourage owners who want to reduce their dogs’ environmental impact to opt for foods with a lower prime meat content and to carefully scrutinize product labels. Harvey also advised that grain-free, wet, and raw dog foods could inadvertently result in higher emissions, suggesting that the pet food industry should focus on using meat cuts that are not typically consumed by humans.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and is published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
