Fundacion Tatiana Catedra etica ambiental UAH Universidad de Alcala
CO2Web Observatorio Online
PETS
Mascotas
What do the calculations include?

Human nutrition, the production, transport and consumption of food has considerable impacts on the environment. The same occurs in the case of companion animals, which are increasingly being cared for by their owners and whose diet -especially in the case of dogs and cats- has a high protein content of animal origin and is subject to complex elaboration that includes numerous dietary supplements. All this is reflected in greenhouse gas emissions, especially notorious in countries with a prominent pet population (Su et al., 2018).

The calculations in this case take into account the amount of food that a companion animal eats annually based on its weight, multiplied by the emissions associated with the production of the ingredients (meat, vegetables and other supplements), along with the processing of all the components to obtain packaged food ("dry food") ready for sale and finally, the transport to the shopping centers. For example, a medium dog can eat up to 250 kg of processed food per year. However, some specialized studies on this subject also take into account that part of the food of some pets comes from the remains of their owners' daily food, so this factor is also taken into account in the total calculation (Su et al., 2018; Su & Martens, 2018).

(values in kgCO2e / animal per year)

PET MEDIUM EMISSION MINIMUM EMISSIONS MAXIMUM EMISSIONS
PET (food only) MEDIUM EMISSION MINIMUM EMISSIONS MAXIMUM EMISSIONS
VALUE AREA OF CALCULATION VALUE AREA OF CALCULATION
Little dog (doggie) 250 30 Japan 410 Japan
Medium dog 800 127 Japan 1.592 China
Big dog 2.000 650 Japan 3.370 Japan
Cat 170 120 Japan 251 Netherlands

(*): Little dog (1.5 -10 kg), medium dog (10 -25 kg), big dog (25 – 60/70 kg). Average cat: 2-6 kg.

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