Pet food: We adore our pets, but what are we feeding them? – Philip Lymbery

Pet food: We adore our pets, but what are we feeding them? – Philip Lymbery

Whatever angle we take, we adore our pets, and rightly so. They give us company, affection, and a reason to go for a walk.

Many of us believe that our cats and dogs transform a house into a home. Almost three-quarters of us consider our pets to be members of the family, and more than half of us believe the best thing about them is the affection they show us.

They are there to welcome us home at the end of a long day. In the case of dogs, they may lick our faces when we are upset. And they are enthusiastic about almost everything we propose. As I've previously stated in this column, my own dog, Duke, is both my best friend and my teacher. I think he knows me better than I know myself at times.

But what consideration do we give to the animals whose products we feed to our pets? A large portion of the meat used in pet food comes from animals raised under inhumane conditions.

"We keep one set of animals in industrial farms, where many never see the light of day," journalist and philosopher Julian Bagging wrote recently, "while we treat others as if we are honored to be guests in their homes."

Welfare standards?

With the exception of a small percentage, all dog and cat food is made with meat from the human food chain. The British Petfood Manufacturers Association (BPMA) claims that petfood companies have "limited influence" over the conditions in which animals are kept. Whether it's beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish, or game, the chances of the ingredients coming from happy animals are often slim.

I asked the BPMA how much meat in pet food comes from animals raised to higher welfare standards; they couldn't give me a figure. The answer, according to the BPMA, lies in the proportion of animals raised to higher welfare standards in the human food chain, which is a small percentage for animals like chicken and pigs in particular.

When I asked the BPMA which of its members only uses higher-welfare meat, they didn't say, instead citing a "number" of unnamed members and saying it was a matter of "individual company policies."

I know from personal experience that some pet food companies take great pride in their animal welfare credentials: one such company, Honey's, only uses meat from animals raised free-range, certified organically, or in the wild.

Aside from concerns about animal welfare and pet food, there is also growing concerned about the environment.

Ant self-recognition

One novel idea is to feed insects to pets. Insect-based pet foods are now widely available, with benefits including a lower environmental impact and the avoidance of meat from intensively farmed animals. But what about the actual insects?

Although scientific understanding of insects' inner workings is limited, there is evidence that they can suffer. They have receptors that detect heat or injury, and honeybees have been shown to be capable of both optimism and pessimism.

Teachers have less patience with slow learners than ants do when they teach each other where to find food. The reaction of ants to the mirror test' is the most intriguing.

If they see a blue dot on their head in a mirror, they will try to clean it off. Scientists consider this type of response to be proof of self-recognition; that the ants can see themselves. It's more proof that insects should be treated with care.

The concern is that as the insect-farming industry expands, so will the possibility of industrialization, posing serious welfare concerns.

Only plants

Diets containing no animal products are another option to traditional meat-based pet foods.

According to a recent study by the University of Winchester, plant-based pet food is not only nutritionally equivalent to animal-based pet food, but pets fed a vegan diet exhibit the same levels of enjoyment.

The study's lead author, Professor Andrew Knight, believes that nutritionally sound vegan diets can provide the healthiest and least hazardous diets for both cats and dogs.

"Dogs and cats enjoy these diets just as much as meat-based diets." "There are also significant environmental benefits to switching our pets to plant-based diets," he explained.

As a result, our options for feeding our four-legged family members are expanding.

Regardless of what we put in their bowls, our pets are important to us and, in my opinion, play an important role in fostering a caring world.

Giving back to those who provide us with so much love and companionship is essential, and a big part of that is ensuring that we feed our pets in ways that keep them healthy and happy.

Concerns about what goes into their food, including animal welfare and environmental concerns, will, I'm sure, become more prominent with each precious feeding time.

Philip Lymbery is the CEO of Compassion in Farming International, a United Nations Food Systems Champion, and the author of Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat and Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were, among other books. He has a Twitter account.