Time to Eat the Dog?

  • Meredith Mull loves dogs. She owns five and works as a groomer. She's not getting rid of any of her pets to help the environment. (Photo by Julie Grant)

We’ve all heard about the
environmental problems our
gas-guzzling cars and trucks
cause. But some researchers
say our vehicles aren’t the
biggest energy hogs. The biggest
energy users actually live
in our homes. Julie Grant
reports about the new book
‘Time To Eat The Dog?’ about
the wasteful ways of our pets:

Transcript

We’ve all heard about the
environmental problems our
gas-guzzling cars and trucks
cause. But some researchers
say our vehicles aren’t the
biggest energy hogs. The biggest
energy users actually live
in our homes. Julie Grant
reports about the new book
‘Time To Eat The Dog?’ about
the wasteful ways of our pets:

Robert Vale is sorry. He didn’t set out to incriminate Fido. He and his wife Brenda Vale specialize in sustainable living at Victoria University in New Zealand. And they just wanted to see how much of the world’s resources it takes to do things like eat, work, play sports, and own pets.

“The thing that most surprised us, and was the most unexpected was the scale of the impact of pets – which was really, really high.”

Vale says a big dog, like a German Shepard, actually has a bigger ecological footprint than an SUV.

To measure the ecological paw-print of pets, the Vales looked at the ingredients in common brands of dried pet foods. Based on recommended portion sizes, they calculated that a medium sized dog would consume more than 3 ounces of dried meat a day. To get that much dried meat, the Vales found, it takes nearly a pound of fresh meat. Add that up each day, and they concluded a medium sized dog eats about 360 pounds of meat a year!

Robert Vale says raising that meat – beef, lamb and chicken – has an environmental impact.

“And we did the calculation based on a dog eating chicken, which is a fairly low footprint meat, rather than say beef, which is a fairly high footprint meat. So, we tried to bias it in favor of the dog. But it still came out really big. It was a big surprise, really.”

Vale says the dog takes more than 2 and a half times more energy and resources than building and driving an SUV 6000 miles a year.

These numbers aren’t just coming from the Vales.
The New Scientist Magazine asked the Stockholm Environment Institute in England to calculate a dog’s paw-print, and the findings were almost exactly the same.

But none of this really computes with dog-lover Meredith Mull. She doesn’t understand why Robert Vale would even look into this.

“He must not have a pet. He must not know what it’s like to be loved by an animal and take care of it and have it give you nothing but respect and loyalty and love. He must not know what it feels like.”

The Vales don’t have any pets. They used to have cats and other animals. But when they died, Robert Vale says they felt they shouldn’t replace them and use more of the world’s resources just to give themselves a little more comfort.

“We are increasingly pushing up to a question of limits. What can we have, what, everything. I think to some extent, that’s why it’s unpopular. We’ve all been brought up to believe that not only can we have more of everything, but it’s our right to have more of everything.”

But some people think the Vales are barking up the wrong tree.

Chetana Mirle works on global warming issues at the Humane Society of the United States. She says instead of blaming dogs, people should look at what they, themselves are eating – and how that contributes to environmental problems.

“So to me, I felt like, ‘are you kidding me?’ Um, we’re worried about our pets, and what our pets are eating instead of what we’re eating, and what our consumption is about – which has such a huge disproportionately large impact on climate change and the environment in general.”

It’s not that the researchers want people to blame dogs and cats instead of themselves. They say they just want people to understand that each choice we make – right down to whether we have pets – has an environmental impact.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

Related Links

Keeping Panthers and People From Colliding

  • Rebecca Galligan with her dogs Roscoe and Sable in their new panther-proof pet house. Galligan and her husband lost their dog Riley to a panther, so they had this enclosure built to keep their pets safe. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)

People are killing Florida panthers.
Usually it’s not intentional. But
Rebecca Williams reports biologists
are trying to figure out how to keep
panthers and people from running into
each other:

Transcript

People are killing Florida panthers.
Usually it’s not intentional. But
Rebecca Williams reports biologists
are trying to figure out how to keep
panthers and people from running into
each other:

There are only about 100 Florida panthers left in the wild. They’re endangered.

If you live down here, it’s one thing to know there are panthers hunting for food in the Everglades. But it’s something else when they visit your backyard.

(sound of tropical birds singing)

Rebecca Galligan and her husband didn’t give panthers all that much thought. Until one day, when they came home from work, and found their dog Riley had been killed.

“The scratches on the body and the way he’d been killed it was pretty obvious it was some sort of wild cat.”

Two days earlier something had killed their neighbor’s sheep. Then a dozen goats got killed.

A biologist decided the predator was a panther. In the past few years in South Florida, more people have been losing pets and farm animals to hungry panthers.

Galligan calling to dog: “C’mere, have a seat!” (Roscoe sniffs the microphone)

Now, when she’s away, Rebecca Galligan keeps her dogs Roscoe and Sable in a little panther-proof house. It’s made out of steel and chain link fencing.

“There’s so much nature and wildlife, and so I mean, we just can’t destroy it all because we want to be safe. That’s why we had this pen built, so we can keep the animals a little safer from the animals that live around us.”

And a lot of people here think the panthers have a right to stick around.

But some say there’s a gaping hole in the law that’s supposed to protect panthers.

The panther has never had what’s called critical habitat set aside. That means developers don’t have to consider the land panthers need to survive. Panther habitat or not, they can just build.

So panthers are getting crowded out by subdivisions and huge new cities.

Andrew McElwaine is president of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. He’s asked the Obama Administration to officially give panthers that habitat.

“So, the more habitat we take away, we’re forcing panthers to move out. We’re getting reports of panthers in urban areas of Southwest Florida looking for somewhere to live, if you will.”

And, as people move in, panthers are becoming roadkill.

Last year 10 panthers were killed by cars. So far, this year, six more panthers have been killed.

(sound of cars whizzing by)

“There are some panther tracks here. There’s one there… and there…”

Mark Lotz is a panther biologist. We’re hanging out in an underpass below the highway. It was built for panthers. Miles of fences run along the highway and make a funnel, so panthers have to go below the road.

Lotz says there are 36 panther underpasses on this stretch of highway. And he says fewer panthers get hit here. But underpasses are expensive – about $2 million each. And giving panthers room to live isn’t always even that simple.

Lotz says the biggest challenge is getting people to adapt to panthers. To him, the cats are majestic. But he also knows a lot of people think they’re terrifying. Somebody actually shot a panther a few months ago.

“Naysayers could make the argument there’s no panthers in Pennsylvania or any other eastern state and things are going just fine. But then I would counter – look what’s happening with deer populations there. You know, panthers are part of the ecosystem. Without them there’s just something missing. In a way part of the wildness disappears.”

But if panthers keep running out of space, they could disappear.

We talked to the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. And we asked him whether he’d set aside critical habitat for panthers.

“Yeah, we’ll have to get back to you on that.”

That’s been the kind of response he’s given to other reporters too.

Giving panthers habitat protection would mean more obstacles for developers. And, in this economy, that could be pretty unpopular.

For The Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Kittens and Climate Change

  • Climate change is making cats' breeding season longer, resulting in more kittens taken to shelters (Photo courtesy of the US Humane Society)

Every year between three to four million
dogs and cats in the US are euthanized in
shelters. That’s according to the American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
That’s because no one will take them in. Kavitha
Cardoza reports the
warmer temperatures caused by climate change are
making the problem of too many cats worse:

Transcript

Every year between three to four million
dogs and cats in the US are euthanized in
shelters. That’s according to the American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
That’s because no one will take them in. Kavitha
Cardoza reports the
warmer temperatures caused by climate change are
making the problem of too many cats worse:

It takes just one cc of sodium pentobarbital and a few seconds to turn this…

(sound of cat mewing)

into this…

(silence)

Each year about twice as many cats as dogs are killed.

(sound of dogs barking)

At the Washington Humane Society Shelter there’s a large whiteboard with instructions
scrawled on it. Kittens “Rice and Gravy” need socializing. The dog Clint Eastwood
does not like other dogs.

Some animals are put down because they have medical problems. Others because
they’re aggressive. But, the main reason is there are just too many of animals and not
enough homes willing to adopt them.

It’s a year round problem, but Spring – around April, begins what’s called the “kitten
season.” Michelle Otis, head of the shelter, says that’s been changing.

“We’re finding that starts earlier every year with the climate change. We’re starting to
see large litters come in as early as February now.”

That would start to slow down in September, but now with warmer winters, it’s
continuing until December.

Otis says on a busy day they get what she calls “an avalanche” of kittens – about 100 a
day – some weighing less than a pound with their eyes still closed.

No one at this shelter wants to euthanize more kittens or puppies.

The only solution they see is to get more people to spay or neuter their pets. But that’s
not easy.

(sound of Jeep stopping and door closing)

Paul Hibler is an animal control officer in Montgomery County Maryland. He’s
responding to a complaint call.

(knocking on door)

Officer: “Hi is victor home?”

Lady: “He’s working.”

Officer: “Does he still have dogs?”

While he waits to get the owner on the phone, Hibler walks to the backyard and points
out the 6 large pups crowded in a small space. They’ve all got “cherry eye” or a red
inflammation of the eyelid.

“This is typical of someone who doesn’t understand the importance of spaying and
neutering. I think he just assumed well if the dog became pregnant she’ll have a couple
of pups and ill be able to find homes for them. And lo and behold she had 10 times the
number he thought.”

Hibler says overpopulation could easily be controlled if people would spay and neuter
their pets.

There are many reasons why pet owners don’t get their pets ‘fixed’. Often it’s the cost.
Sometimes they don’t know where to go. But it’s also myths people believe, such as
“my pet will become fat” or “not as affectionate.”

There are some owners who come to the shelter again and again with litter after litter.
That’s despite offers to spay their pets for free. It’s a huge financial burden for shelters.
And it’s an emotional burden for the people who work there.

Diana Foley at the Washington Humane Society says no matter how many times she’s
been present when an animal is euthanized, it’s never gets easier.

“Each time that you’re faced with that decision, and you’re in that moment, and you’re
thinking how can you make him have a good end. And you’re petting them and holding
them and kissing them and touching them, talking to them and you’re saying how can
you make that animal’s last moments peaceful.”

And with climate change making the breeding season longer, the animal shelter workers
are finding their spending even more “last moments” with unwanted animals.

For The Environment Report, I’m Kavitha Cardoza.

Related Links