[A] new study says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.— Isabelle Toussaint and Jurgen Hecker,AFPHere's some new terms for some of you, “carbon pawprint.” or “carbon clawprint.” Did you know that your pet emits more CO2 than your neighbors SUV? That’s right according to New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale’s new book “Time to Eat the Dog” you’d better stop casting that self-righteous stare at your neighbors as they pull out of their driveways in SUVs to go to work while you’re petting Fido on the head.
Why, because you’re the greater threat to the planet not the SUV driving neighbor.
According to Isabelle Toussaint’s and Jurgen Hecker’s report, the Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analyzed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.
Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.
To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same.
Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones.
So before you give complete power over to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or some government agency that wants to regulate carbon remember that after they take away your neighbors SUV they will come knocking at your door and you’ll have to hide Fido up in the attic because pets' environmental impact is not limited to their carbon footprint, as cats and dogs devastate wildlife, spread disease and pollute waterways, according to the Vales’ study.
Is this Green Nazism getting crazy enough for you yet? (see source)
