Barbequed dog? That’s a step too far

This is an era where many are thinking about switching out that big SUV for a car that’s better for the environment. But what about switching out your family pet for a nice indoor plant?

A new book called Time to Eat the Dog? by a husband and wife team in New Zealand argue that every aspect of life should be put under the microscope of sustainable living, along with pet ownership.

Dogs that require a meat diet, according to the authors, have a surprisingly large ecological paw print. It takes more than two acres of land to keep a medium size dog fed. In contrast, a Land Cruiser needs about half that.

I agree that feeding dogs a dried meat diet is not a good idea – and could even be called irresponsible from the earth’s perspective. But couldn’t you say the same thing about a man or a woman with a high percentage of meat in their diet, especially if it travels long distances to reach a dinner plate?

Now back to animals. The killer problem with cats and dogs is not their diet. The real problem is how irresponsible the entire pet industry has become. According to the American Humane Society, 56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter a homeless shelter are euthanized in the U.S. In 2008, the agency estimates 3.7 million animals were euthanized. That’s nearly equal to the population of Los Angeles.

If the U.S. is going to turn pet ownership into a sustainability issue, we’re going to have to find a new and better way to control it. Yeah, there are some dogs who eat better than the majority of humans, but for every one of those how many animals are starving?

Finding a way to cut back on the number of pets in homes is bigger than helping the environment, it’s also about helping the animals.