Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Man's Best Friend Now Dubbed One of the Environment's Worst Enemies







(My Aussie Shepherd Kyley in Saturday's Blizzard)


What utter bullshit !!!   I say let's bbq and eat all the scientists that come up with such ridiculously bogus statistics.  Or better yet, let the dogs & cats loose on 'em ! ~jg








PARIS (AFP) – Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

But the revelation in the book "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers.



The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.

Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.

To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same.

"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said.

Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say.

Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones.

But Reha Huttin, president of France's 30 Million Friends animal rights foundation says the human impact of eliminating pets would be equally devastating.

"Pets are anti-depressants, they help us cope with stress, they are good for the elderly," Huttin told AFP.

"Everyone should work out their own environmental impact. I should be allowed to say that I walk instead of using my car and that I don't eat meat, so why shouldn't I be allowed to have a little cat to alleviate my loneliness?"

Sylvie Comont, proud owner of seven cats and two dogs -- the environmental equivalent of a small fleet of cars -- says defiantly, "Our animals give us so much that I don't feel like a polluter at all.

"I think the love we have for our animals and what they contribute to our lives outweighs the environmental considerations.

"I don't want a life without animals," she told AFP.

And pets' environmental impact is not limited to their carbon footprint, as cats and dogs devastate wildlife, spread disease and pollute waterways, the Vales say.

With a total 7.7 million cats in Britain, more than 188 million wild animals are hunted, killed and eaten by feline predators per year, or an average 25 birds, mammals and frogs per cat, according to figures in the New Scientist.

Likewise, dogs decrease biodiversity in areas they are walked, while their faeces cause high bacterial levels in rivers and streams, making the water unsafe to drink, starving waterways of oxygen and killing aquatic life.

And cat poo can be even more toxic than doggy doo -- owners who flush their litter down the toilet ultimately infect sea otters and other animals with toxoplasma gondii, which causes a killer brain disease.

But despite the apocalyptic visions of domesticated animals' environmental impact, solutions exist, including reducing pets' protein-rich meat intake.

"If pussy is scoffing 'Fancy Feast' -- or some other food made from choice cuts of meat -- then the relative impact is likely to be high," said Robert Vale.

"If, on the other hand, the cat is fed on fish heads and other leftovers from the fishmonger, the impact will be lower."

Other potential positive steps include avoiding walking your dog in wildlife-rich areas and keeping your cat indoors at night when it has a particular thirst for other, smaller animals' blood.

As with buying a car, humans are also encouraged to take the environmental impact of their future possession/companion into account.

But the best way of compensating for that paw or clawprint is to make sure your animal is dual purpose, the Vales urge. Get a hen, which offsets its impact by laying edible eggs, or a rabbit, prepared to make the ultimate environmental sacrifice by ending up on the dinner table.

"Rabbits are good, provided you eat them," said Robert Vale.


24 comments:

  1. yeh... the 'warmists' and 'alarmists' are full of crap... the science doesn't back them up ... plus we now know their duplicity and fraud.

    but, as a trivial aside, I must say I really love aussie shepherds... I lived with a lady who had one ... great dog. I currently have a Black Lab though.. and she is an equally endearing snoot. (another lady's appellation for all beasties with noses.....) we had canine, feline and .. what ever the hell ferrets are... snoots.

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  2. So, if this were true, than dinosaurs would have ruined the planet a long time ago.

    This is nothing but one more chamber in the rabbit-hole. Actually this makes those that are perpetrating this whole global-warming crap for what it is.

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  3. Most of this "important science" about man's best friend ignores the economic and environmental value of hunting dogs so it is lacking a major feedback loop. Not everyone has cuddly pets for their own sake. I just got back from extended camp in a tent city beyond the grid where a subsistance community uses a pit bull one member raised from birth to obtain regular protein. The dog at four years old is sweet and obedient. He is reliable for bringing down large game that is shared with many people in the community on a regular basis.

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  4. kitty's not purr'n

    "according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle." ??????

    Interesting how they say nothing about the carbon pawprint of Tigers in this article
    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15000-climate-change-is-driving-increase-in-tiger-attacks.html

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  5. Hey Richard....yea we are wise to them and their schemes. I think if they start messing with America's pets there WILL be a revolution poste haste'!

    Aussies are great. Mine is only 5 months and she's already proving they are highly intelligent dogs. I love labs. My friend has a yellow lab and we swear he's a human being inside a dog suit by the antics he pulls........

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  6. I know M. Can they get anymore ridiculous with this crap? I refuse to use those horrible mercury laced squiggly light bulbs they are pushing on us. It's getting harder to find a normal incandescent bulb anywhere. I've always been frugal with energy.not just to conserve(though I learned that well in catholic school) but because I hate giving money to the utility companies !

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  7. Wow, large game? I guess if any dog could handle that it would be a pit bull with their mighty jaws. I think, in the not so distant future, we will all be living tent city style because we will be forced "back to nature." Our working dogs may be put to their original uses of hunting, herding and hauling.

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  8. Kitty, according to that article you posted, I suppose the big cats are serving the nwo's purpose of depopulation ;)

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  9. JG.... do you suppose a few could be let loose in a certain domical roofed Washington building?? Then the doors locked?

    Depop should be an 'equal opportunity' affair....

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  10. Now you're talkin Richard ! For that same purpose let's gather up some lions and bears...oh my !

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  11. War is the largest factor in the footprint of mankind.

    Let's begin with the 1% Solution and see how things progress from there.

    The Queen and Al Gore have bigger footprints that Shaquille O'Neil. And their odor eaters have failed.

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  12. if6turnedouttobeneinDecember 23, 2009 at 6:22 PM

    our 3 dogs eat fitty lbs of food per 3 wks, with 205 lbs their combined weight. that's 850 lbs of food per year. my boy and i have a total combined weight of between 220-240 lbs and a balanced/conservative consumption of 6lbs of food per day totaling 2190 per year. hadn't noticed lately if our 3 K-9's had a auto-affliction nor that they're wearing clothes that i need to wash not to mention using TP to wipe their noses or asses etc. etc., a small paw print compared to the over consuming intelligent that walk upright in a ruling manner. needless to say the alertness/protection and the condition(well taught) unconditional love/loyalty they give/produce is insurmountable compared to x-ladies and use-to-be so-called friends, which was probably due because i can't spell or construct a sentence properly but leaning more towards that i do get my point across and that i remind them of who they are and what they say by merely repeating their own words and said actions. now if only folks knew when to use than and then properly. oh well hope i got my point across?

    here's my true intentions and tribute, albeit small to the dogs of the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_MEpww2MHA&feature=related, tune in about 7:15 mins.

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  13. I hate to sound prejudiced, overly religous or too simple:

    Our gods, er I mean dogs are highly underated as guardian angels. They will attack a snake almost instinctively and my recent passed Casey boy ran ahead of me and attacked a roaming alligator moving to a new canal in Florida several years ago.

    If indeed shape shifting fallen heathens or Atlanteans have been parading around my homesteads, I am certain they have passed my house on several occasions.

    It does not surprise me that the carbon footprint false prophets would isolate the canine and exclude the cats, cows and polo ponies.

    SIMPLE SOMETIMES SEEMS RIGHT!

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  14. I let rip on the NZ site that first ran this, its a load of POOP. they omitted the cost of mining and making and maintaining a car, fuel oil etc and tyres, for a start. the comment re posh foods? well the containers cost more, but whats in em is still Muck, non human quality all the way, add soy and fillers and its hardly meat anyway in most brands,
    see www.truthaboutpetfood.com for info.
    Iamd eukanuba and hills ALL come from a Menu Foods subsidiary, I found that out when the Melamine deaths were happening.
    I have 4 deerhoud wolfhound cross family members, they eat 30kg of meat a fortnight. and a bag of dry a month, they are all fit and healthy,
    they have caugh 4 rabbits and 2 foxes and 2 feral cats ON my land in 12 months, they earn their keep, with love and protection.
    I.d like to introduce the Vale couple to them, as a food group! actually not, i avoid offal!
    I,d love to show you my baby 10 mths and almost as tall as her mum and uncle.:-)
    she eats my garden- and is having chicken aversion training just now:-(

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  15. Actually Patrick, I think the elite for the most part are pampered dog owners themselves. Of course their canines and felines would be excluded from the purge just as they and their families would be........

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  16. Oz, I'd love to see a picture of your baby. Can you post it? I don't know what a deerhound looks like but a neighbor of mine had two Irish Wolfhounds that were VERY tall! I bet she's a beauty.

    You're right about the dog food. I've read horror stories about it including they use dogs and cats euthanized in shelters as meat in some.. good god.
    I have a holistic vet who recommended of course a meat diet(which I can't afford) so he recommended I use Wysong dry food which is what I feed the dog and cats with treats of fresh chicken and beef .

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  17. Yeah, consistent large game. The community plan the parties and feasts a day ahead because pooch is like the Swiss trains. Sometimes he meets his match with some tough large males. And he will go on vendettas and chase the same nemesis at every chance, but the people prefer females and it is better to take females to keep the game populations in check. A good pit bull is so fast to the throat and in tactics running em down it is pretty impressive, and he feeds off the bones for days. I used to be vegetarian, my partner vegan, but we had smoked wild boar I shot for Christmas dinner. I plan to use a better scoped rifle for long shots cuz there is enough game here plus what is on abandoned farms in orchards to feed at a min a few hundred people and at a max if managed maybe twenty thousand people. So my last concern is eating well and carrying capacity of my environment.

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  18. I like dogs. You know I like dogs, right?

    Now... because I don't want to go over this again, maybe Mr. Monbiot can explain it to you:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/07/climate-change-denial-industry

    Now, I don't like to get harsh with friends, but here's the deal: when you start going on about how global warming is a "hoax," you may as well slap a sign on your forehead that says, "TWIT." Start dribbling about Al Gore and your "hard-earned tax dollars," and you may as well scoop up the rest of the TWIT signs and make yourself a suit.

    This story is intended to bring out your inner Elmer Fudd:
    ooooo dose wascawwy enviwonmentawists... now dey wanna take Wovah... you heaw dat, Wovah?
    rrrrr... wowf??? whiiiineee...
    oooo don you wowwy Wovah... i wiww pwotect you wef my second wamendment WIGHTS!!!

    Look... the rich fatties don't need a "pretext" to fuck you over. Sure, they'll piss on your head and tell you it's raining... but they REALLY don't give a shit if you "believe" it or not. They're going to piss on your head ANYWAY. And like dogs, the fatties can be your best friend- or your worst predator.

    The difference is: dogs have not forgotten the monkey-with-stick trick. I guess the fatties have. Now, the fatties won't ever love you... like dogs will. That's why all dogs go to heaven and most fatties do not. Rich fatties WILL bite the hand that feeds them... unless the other hand has a big fat stick in it. And right now, we aint even got a wish sandwich.

    What they need's a damn good whacking... and you don't need no fancy-dan noisy wabbit wifle.

    A garden fork or a tiki torch will work just fine.

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  19. Hey waldo, welcome back! Too bad you're still believing Al Gore is pure as the driven snow.

    It's not that coto doesn't believe the climate is changing. We think there are other causes at work and we totally disagree with the solutions.

    Perhaps you can tell us how carbon trading between polluters helps the environment and how adding more taxes on the back of an already drowning middle class will solve the problem?

    WHy doesn't Mr Gore say "a free solar panel on every roof " instead?

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  20. aw waldo..ok today in the NYTimes they are going to use the FBI, secret satellite info to assist? gee isnt the Noah and other purpose built stuff good enough I wonder?
    and BBc via brasschecks new year contribution is now a sob story on Global dimming. it seems now that europe cleaned the air up the rains falling in the sahel again..
    so the dirty air was the reason millions died in biafra?
    but!
    now the airs cleaner it will get hotter.
    WTF time folks!
    oh and a cracker was an idiot report claiming that asias dirty air increased ozone in US by 10 to 12% nasty asia..
    so? they didnt mention the other 88 to 90% that usa produces itself as being an issue..and neglected to say that the usa dirty air also travels to europe..
    such fun!
    oh and the morons sayng the increased ozone was giving them asthma?
    yeah right?
    yeah its part per trillion! and its much lighter than air, and..
    remember the ozone panic that sold lots of new fridges aircons etc.. yeah THAT! was a scam too!
    ozone is a sunlight reaction up high got F all to do with us either.we stopped the cfcs did it shrink? umm well they said so, however the data says its still there and it moves, and its Normal! just like the fact the climate has changed for bloody millenia.
    pop over to wuwt and see Moncktons open letter to our Idiot in chief KRUDD..and he provides calc for those with math abilities.
    Jersey id spot on, solutions like gas cars and single solar units would be more efficient and worthwhile.
    carbon credits etc is a load of methane producing poop. oh god, I better go cork the hounds had I?
    millions wasted here trying to screw up cows digestion using Kangaroo gut bacteria to lower methane..
    aw F it all, how insane does it have to get before someone yells enough!! and blows the Cruudy had and Ipcc assholes to meet their maker.
    see EUReferendum for ripper expose on that prime piece of nastiness Patchauri. Moonbat cannot be unaware but does he mention that? Nope. hes a suck.

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  21. Hey Oz, I missed you! Right on sister ;)

    Waldo, I read Mr Moonbat errr Monbiot's article. All it does is castigate those questioning the "official global warming story." Since when is it wise to accept what the government tells us (and THEIR paid scientists) without question?

    The planet's in trouble, no doubt about that. Any fool can see it. but I wonder if the MIC's weaponzing`of the weather over several decades has anything to do with it? Or do you think that's just a tinfoil conspiracy theory? Yea probably. It's not the oil refineries or the chemical plants spewing poison into the air that's killing us and to prove it they'll get to trade off their pollution. It's all we proles fault and we must PAY AND PAY AND PAY... with our individual freedom and paycheck..(those of us that still get one)

    It's time that everyone not asking the hard questions wake up from their msm induced haze and start asking why the burden for climate change falls only on the little guy and not on the major polluters.

    Where are the REAL solutions and why aren't they implementing them?

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  22. once again, i don't give a flying donut about Al Gore, Michael Moore, or any other freaking "celebrity." This is science.

    "Since when is it wise to accept what the government tells us..." Sister J... how many times... there IS NO "government."

    "...why the burden for climate change falls only on the little guy and not on the major polluters." Because if climate change is real... we get hosed. Not real? we get hosed. Santa Claus is coming to town? we get hosed. See a pattern here?

    "Where are the REAL solutions..." There ARE NONE. We're fucked. You can't stop what's coming. And "taxes" are going to be the LEAST of your worries. http://dieoff.org/

    "The illusion of freedom [in America] will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." --Frank Zappa

    Who are "they?" You call em NWO... I call em "the rich fatties." po-tay-to po-tah-to. They pile up more "capital" in an hour than most of us "useless eaters" make in our whole lives.
    http://waldopaper.wordpress.com/

    And one thing is lead-pipe certain: the "government" is just a bunch of Punch-and-Judy haircut-and-suit sock puppets. There IS NO fucking "government." Only rulers. They rule.
    http://www.theyrule.net/2004/tr2.php

    You have no "freedom," you have no "paycheck." All we have is time... and that's running out no matter what happens. We CAN mitigate what's coming... but only if enough of us see the strings in the puppet show... before "they" move the tables and chairs. The scenery is coming down by itself. The future WILL be Green... one way or another.

    THAT'S the brick wall at the back of the theater.

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  23. waldo, ok theres a nasty group of what passes for humans "they control " what passes for govt,
    so?
    we go no id no cash no grid...not possible for most of us.
    in the meantime being all the Non mainstream also creates its own dramas for us personally .
    so, your solution in plain wording is?
    In the meantime fighting to stop what we can is the best we can do..or do we just give up and die now?
    that benefits them too...

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  24. So?

    Ignore "them" as much as possible.

    "we go no id no cash no grid…not possible for most of us." In the future it will be mandatory. How to make the transition? Either gradually or suddenly... your choice.

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