Save the planet - eat a dog???

That's what the title of a new book suggests.

The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres (6,210 miles) a year, researchers have found.

Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.

The couple have assessed the carbon emissions created by popular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them.

"If you have a German shepherd or similar-sized dog, for example, its impact every year is exactly the same as driving a large car around," Brenda Vale said.

"A lot of people worry about having SUVs but they don't worry about having Alsatians and what we are saying is, well, maybe you should be because the environmental impact ... is comparable."

In a study published in New Scientist, they calculated a medium dog eats 164 kilograms [362 pounds] of meat and 95 kg [210 pounds] of cereals every year. It takes 43.3 square metres [51.8 square yards] of land to produce 1 kg [2.2 pounds] of chicken a year. This means it takes 0.84 hectares [just over 2 acres] to feed Fido.

They compared this with the footprint of a Toyota Land Cruiser, driven 10,000km a year, which uses 55.1 gigajoules (the energy used to build and fuel it). One hectare of land [just under 2.5 acres] can produce 135 gigajoules a year, which means the vehicle's eco-footprint is 0.41ha – less than half of the dog's.

. . .

Professor Vale says the title of the book is meant to shock, but the couple, who do not have a cat or dog, believe the reintroduction of non-carnivorous pets into urban areas would help slow down global warming.

"The title of the book is a little bit of a shock tactic, I think, but though we are not advocating eating anyone's pet cat or dog there is certainly some truth in the fact that if we have edible pets like chickens for their eggs and meat, and rabbits and pigs, we will be compensating for the impact of other things on our environment."

YOUR PET'S MARK

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares [2.72 acres], compared with 0.41 ha [1 acre] for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15 ha [0.37 acre] (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf).

Hamsters: 0.014 ha [3/100ths of an acre] (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034 ha [8/10,000ths of an acre] (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

There's more at the link.

Of course, eating dog meat (and cat meat, and other things that we in Western nations regard as beyond the pale) is nothing new to a great many cultures, particularly in the Far East. There are even on-line butcheries offering home delivery of dog meat and cat meat to those with a taste for such foods (although why they call themselves 'Puppybeef' and 'Kittybeef' I haven't yet figured out!) Nevertheless, I think I'll pass . . .

Peter