Missy and Sebastian
LOL Sebastian’s eyes don’t really have that glassy look. I am just a terrible photographer. haha
Save The Planet: Time to Eat Dog
Source
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.
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).
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Wild Thing’s comment………..
Psychos! I will NEVER give up my animals, they are part of our family or Nicholas and I. Our children of the fur!
People really are going off the deep end!!!
Oh my GOD that is SO SICK! OK, so these perverts think the planet would be better off with not only humans gone but also the species that like humans the best. What species IS permitted to survive, according to the econazis?
I say save the planet and get rid of the enviro’s NOW!
……Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion – 1st Aviation Brigade – Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
These Enviro-mental Weenies should really mind their own business. They may be the new communists but they can kiss my ass. After we run out of dogs then what are we suppose to eat…or is that where Eugenics comes in.
My neighbor got some Peeps in the Spring, two Rhod Island Reds. it was supposed to be one male and one female. But they are now both laying eggs. must be obamao style chickens.
He’s been feeding them some real good stuff and occasional ‘crack-corn’ they are nice an plump about ripe for dinner. I told him I’d bring the bisquits and honey, but he just laughed. The other day he went out and bought some special Feeders and a special watering trough that is heated for colder weather. I guess he has no plans on a Roast Chicken dinner anytime soon.
To make matters worse they even have a ‘Jack Russel’ Terrier that’s five extra carbon footprints.
We got to wake up and ‘nudge’ these bastards off the edge of the Country.
What will it be next? Babies? Old people? I told ya-Soylent Green is coming. Mark my words. The government is in bed with the envirowackos and they will stop at nothing to get rid of the excess population because of the carbon footprint. First it was cows farts, now it’s the household dog. It never ends. As the song goes, “This is the song that doesn’t end, yes it goes on and on my friend, some people starting singing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue singing it forever just because…” (and begins to repeat over and over again!)
It will be interesting to see how they will try and fit this into Cap and Trade to wrest some more taxes from the people.
Soylent Beagle?
Leftist environmentalism is like old Soviet “science”. It starts with ridiculous and dangerous assumptions about mankind, rather than the individual, and reduces every issue to figures and policy.
The totalitarians are on the left.
Eco-environmentalists leave bigger footprints than dogs, so let’s do them yuppies in.
Honestly, this movement has gone beyond the extreme. Mankind cannot affect the climate. I thought this back when they did away with flurocarbons. These carbon credits and debits are just a way for the govt to control us.
Piss be upon them. They come for my cat and some of the ammo I bought will be expended.
I wonder how big my carbon footprint is due to all the farts I’ve emitted over my lifetime. I’ll bet I’m a gross polluter.
Chó or Cát Thịt, Dog meat or Cat meat. No doubt I’ve eaten it, best not to know when dining abroad. As for them coming for pets around me I need no excuse to bust a cap on idiots, their mere presence brings out the best in me. King Rat is a 1962 novel by James Clavell that is based on true POW experiences.
We need another ‘French Revolution’ to clear some Maoist heads.
“We need to continue to decrease the growth rate of the global population; the planet can’t support many more people… There are probably already too many […]” Nina Federoff, Hillary’s science advisor. Maybe the flu vaccine is a sterilization product. Who knows. I never thought I would feel this way about the government. It used to be just a bumbling, bloated mess. Now it’s the enemy.
“Man’s best friend…. BURP!” I miss my three Chow Chows but they went to Heaven from natural causes – no buffet – and I still enjoy eating Hot Dogs too… Back to my ‘Cat Flied Lice,’ eh?
This is where we convince envirowackos to kill themselves to save the world (hey, if they’re really committed to those nasty humans being a carbon-footprint drain on the planet… )
Ditto to all you have said. Thank you. This
eviros are crazy, these people have lost
their minds.