Pete the Vet: What can be done to make pet-keeping more sustainable?

Pic: iStock

Companion animals contribute significantly to our quality of life. So how can we keep pets as sustainably as possible?

If a pet was to be chosen for sustainability, herbivores would be the top of the list, because meat production makes a significant contribution to greenhouse gases. 

The most popular herbivorous pets are rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and hamsters. 

Their daily diet can be a plant-based diet, placing minimal impact on the environment, and easy to produce again and again, with limited resources. 

Herbivores' droppings are easily recyclable as compost, and they do not need repeated doses of anti-parasite medication that can have an impact on the wider environment.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Many of us have preconceptions about these creatures, not fully appreciating the joys of keeping them as pets. 

People who own these small herbivores are often enthusiastic about their choice of pet: I know many rabbits who live in family homes, using litter trays, and being as socially interactive as a dog or a cat, as good as other pets for our mental health, blood pressure and general quality of life. 

If you have children who are asking you for a pet, visit someone who keeps a small herbivore, so that you can see for yourself the pros and cons.

The reality is that these smaller pets make up a tiny minority of the pet population: around 70% of Irish pets are dogs, 28% cats and around 2% “other species”. 

For our society to make an impact on improving the sustainability of pet keeping, the focus has to be on dogs and cats.

Pic: iStock

There are some simple steps that dog and cat owners can take:

Minimise purchase of plastics. There are many aspects of pet care that use plastics. Often, the easiest and cheapest choice is plastic-rich, but for sustainability, we should be rethinking our relationship with plastic. Ideally, we should look for an alternative.

Choose pet food packaged in paper or cardboard if it’s available, or at least read the label to understand the sustainability criteria that have been used in the packaging. Many pet food companies are very aware of the need for sustainability, and while their packaging may look no different to others, when you do some simple research you may find that they have sourced materials with sustainability in mind.

Choose compostable poo bags.

Consider rope leashes rather than synthetic fibres.

When choosing food and water bowls, look for metal, glass, or ceramic rather than plastic.

You can even get metal or ceramic litter boxes for cats, although they are harder to find.

Grooming implements can have metal or wood handles, instead of plastic.

If you buy plastic bottles of pet shampoos or medicines, rinse them out when they are empty, and either reuse or recycle them.

Avoid contaminating the environment with medication. You need to care for your pets’ health, but it’s important to pay attention to the environmental impact of products that are being used to treat them. If your pet is on a course of oral antibiotics or other medications, pick up their faeces and dispose of them in landfill, even if you are in country areas where this may not seem essential. The same applies if your pet has been given tablets to control parasites (many dogs need monthly doses to minimise the risk of a fatal lungworm infection). If you use spot-on products to control external parasites like fleas or ticks, keep your pet away from waterways like rivers or lakes.

If you buy plastic bottles of pet shampoos or medicines, rinse them out when they are empty, and either reuse or recycle them.

When buying toys, seek out natural materials. Better again, consider what toys you can create from objects in your home that you may otherwise discard: from cardboard boxes and feathers-on-strings for cats, to an old t-shirt with knots tied in it for dogs to play tug-of-war. If plastic is the only option (as it is for some situations), seek out products made from recycled plastic, or choose high-quality products that have been made to last for many years, rather than flimsy cheap items that are likely to have a short life span.

Reduce the use of human-grade meat. Traditionally, dogs and cats were naturally environmentally sustainable. Cats fed themselves by controlling pests like rats and mice, topped up with household scraps. Dogs were fed entirely on household scraps: many still have their diet supplemented by human leftovers such as cooked potato skins, less desirable trimmings of meat and other titbits that we discard from our own tables. Over the last century, the way we feed pets has changed. The concept of commercial pet food was introduced, and again, initially, this was done in a sustainable way. Pet food manufacturers used the waste items that humans did not want to eat (like chicken feet, organ meats, and skin), processing these into a formulation that was palatable and nutritious for pets.

The trend towards humanization of pets has meant that pet food now tends to include meat that would otherwise be used for human consumption: this seems appealing when we adore our pets, and we feel that we want to improve their lives by feeding them the tastiest food, but it often isn’t necessary. Again, some research on the internet will inform you about a pet food manufacturer’s sustainability credentials. Consider vegetarian or insect-based food for dogs (e.g. https://omuupet.com/, created by an Irish vet). Cats are obligate meat eaters, so this is a more complex area to address.

Avoid contaminating the environment with medication. You need to care for your pets’ health, but it’s important to pay attention to the environmental impact of products that are being used to treat them. If your pet is on a course of oral antibiotics or other medications, pick up their faeces and dispose of it in landfill, even if you are in country areas where this may not seem essential. The same applies if your pet has been given tablets to control parasites (many dogs need monthly doses to minimise the risk of a fatal lungworm infection). If you use spot-on products to control external parasites like fleas or ticks, keep your pet away from waterways like rivers or lakes.

Careful planning can go a long way to improve the sustainability of caring for our animal friends.