How your pet is killing the planet (Enviro-nuts say dog = SUV)

Salon ^ | 10/26/09 | Andrew Leonard

[Callahan]

New book -- "Time to Eat the Dog" -- claims golden retrievers have the same carbon footprint as SUVs

As provocative titles go, "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living," is a doozy, guaranteed to ensure outrage and oodles of provocative blog post headlines. As summarized in The Telegraph, New Zealand-based authors Robert and Brenda Vale have calculated the carbon footprint of pet-ownership and arrived at some disturbing conclusions.

A medium-sized dog has the same impact as a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 6,000 miles a year, while a cat is equivalent to a Volkswagen Golf....

[The authors] base their findings on the amount of land needed to grow food for pets ranging from budgerigars to cats and dogs.

They say an average Collie eats 164kg of meat and 95kg of cereals a year, giving it a high impact on the planet.

[MaryFromMichigan]

You have a 7 foot long Anaconda?
!!!!

Someone should start a thread on freeper pets.
Haven’t seen one in years!

[Mr Inviso]

Then the whole bunch of dogs I’ve pulled from shelters this year has a greater carbon footprint than the SUV I use to go get them.

I like it.

[katlynne11]

Chiuahua farts, cow flatulence, bison flatus. What is the biomass of all insects on a given square area and do beetles fart. The bombadier beetle sprays a formic acid spray. Perhaps DDT would sustain the planet. Oh, yes, and the trees. You know, all trees die....that is to say all plants die. What is the biomass of a square mile of plants. When plants die, they decay via oxidation, producing CO2 and water, both of which are greenhouse gases. Let's get the dozers rolling and bring down those trees and bury them before they can decay. You know termites eat trees and fart. Insects have got to go. Sure, sure, they do a few good things...bees and certain types of flies and wasps and butterflies and moths,...they polinate,.....but sacrifices have to be made.

These people are as crazy as crap-house rats. Just thinking about liberals make me run-off at the bowels.

[unique]

Yes, immediately sign up on the endangered species list....

[CholeraJoe]

Given the amount of malodorous gas emitted by my two Labradors, they may be single-handedly responsible for the melting glaciers in Greenland.

[Varda]

“should cause some internecine war between the eco-loons and the animal rights nuts”

Not really. They're on the same page with this.
Animal rights nuts HATE dogs. That's why they're always support breed bans and odious ownership rules. They love anything that makes owning a pet more difficult.

[RoadGumby]

Yes, I have had Ducky for about 5 years and tempermentaly, he is not your typical Ananconda. He’s not yet ‘bitten in anger” LOL.

My new wife is getting accustomed to him, has gotten as far as watching him in a tub (Ducky in the tub) while I clean out his cage.

But no grain needs grown to feed him, and he only eats at most, once a week. His food is shipped frozen, overnight, with a block of dry ice.

Dry ice, being CO2, would that count towards his ‘footprint’? It used to be in the air, but then it was removed, but then returns, I am so confused. ;^)

Advantages to a snake as a pet? No barking at night, doesn’t pee on the floor, doesn’t shed fur all over, no fleas.

(Pulling on Flame suit for incoming dog owners)

[MaryFromMichigan]

What do you keep a snake that large in?

[RoadGumby]

I have a 7’ x 2 1/2’ x 2 1/2’ wood cage with a inset water tub, heat tile and a hide. A 7’ snake actually doesn’t take up much space if he is curled up.

[Judith Anne]

Oh, CUTE!!! I have a little old lady one of those!

[Outlaw Woman]

LMAO! Here's the story behind the 'tank':

Dog For Sale: OR free to good home. Answers to the name of Dolly. Excellent guard dog. Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more thieves, murderers, rapists or molesters left in the neighborhood for him to eat. Most of them knew him as 'Oh Shit!!' Your help will be appreciated....

[RoadTest]

That’s it. I’ve had all I’m going to take from these people. This is where I draw the line.

[pbmaltzman]

I have three cats, and I'm not giving them up ever for any reason.

And when I get out of Kalifornia and have a house with a yard, I'm going to get a dog! Preferably a collie or a German shepherd, because those are my favorite breeds.

I'm 56 now and I haven't had a dog since I was 19-1/2. Maybe I've saved up enough carbon credits by now? ;)

[boatbums]

Ever hear the story about the guy that shot and ate a Peregrine falcon? The Eviro-wacks, the John Birch Society, Greenspeace...they were all up in arms and made sure he was arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

At the trial, the judge asked him why he did it.

“I was lost in the woods, hungry, I looked up and saw a bird flying overhead. I shot it and ate it. That's all I can say.” he replied.

Well the judge found him “not guilty”, much to the chagrin of the audience and protesters outside the courthouse.

Afterward, on the steps of the courthouse, a reporter stuck a microphone in his face and shouted, “Well, what did it taste like?”

He thought for a moment, and then said, “Kind of a toss between a snowy owl and and a bald eagle.”

[TheMom]

Planet-killers.

Hell yeah!!

I don't recycle either.

[boatbums]

Just in from by husband,

If your wife and dog are outside. One is barking to get in the front door, the other is yelling to get in the back. Which one do you let in?

Answer: the dog, because when he comes in at least he will shut up.

[toast]

With my dog the offending greenhouse gas is methane rather than CO2.

[Lady Jag]

Yeah, like you can even find your dog.

[Nowhere Man]

I feed my dog Enviro-Nuts.

Crunchy, beefy flavored, full of protein Enviro-Nuts.

MMMMMmmmmmm, I'll feed them to my cats after I send them through the meat grinder. We could make them into sausages too.

[Double Tap]

He never misses a chance to post his little lunacy rant.