Premium dog food leaves bigger carbon pawprint than human diets

Premium dog food can have a far worse effect on the environment than owners’ diets, researchers have suggested.

Wet, raw and meat-rich pet products were linked to much higher greenhouse gas emissions than dry kibble or human meals, according to the biggest study yet into dog food’s environmental impact.

The production of ingredients used in British dog food has been estimated to account for 1 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

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John Harvey, the principal investigator of the study from the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, said: “Our findings reveal that the environmental footprint of dog food is both significant and highly variable.”

The highest-impact food, including wet or raw meals, were responsible for up to 13,000kg of CO₂ emissions per year for a 20kg dog, compared with just 178kg of CO₂ for the lowest-rated options, including dry kibble, researchers said. By contrast, a human’s meat-rich diet was estimated to produce 2,624kg of CO₂ per year, falling to just 1,055kg for vegans.

A beagle dog sitting on the floor, looking at a bowl of dry food.

“The dog diets with the biggest impacts are those that rely heavily on prime cuts of beef,” Harvey explained. “Most people don’t get such a large share of their nutrition from beef, and even high meat consumers typically eat a range of proteins and other foods.”

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The researchers used label information to calculate the carbon footprint of almost 1,000 brands based on emissions generated during the production of ingredients, drawing on data from the journal Climatic Change. The sample contained dry, wet and raw foods, including plant-based and grain-free options.

Harvey’s team found that if the type of food fed to dogs in the UK were replicated for all dogs worldwide, it would generate the equivalent of more than half a year of the emissions produced by burning jet fuel in commercial flights.

Dr Rob Williams, the president of the British Veterinary Association, said: “Organ meat and other animal by-products may be less appealing to people but are perfectly safe and very nutritious for dogs. Using them reduces waste in the food industry, and compared with pet food using ‘human-grade’ ingredients and some raw diets they have a much lower carbon footprint.”