Regardless of the arable land devoted to dogs, their presence is a detriment to the environment. Even if their feces are properly disposed of by their owners, non-degradable plastic bags are commonly used. And there is the matter of their urine, which kills vegetation and potentially pollutes local water tables. Then there is the fact that the meat in their food requires far more acreage than would be needed for a fully vegetarian diet. What does this say about dog owners’ attitude to world hunger? I must add that I live in a neighborhood filled with poorly trained and unattended dogs whose barking causes me to wear ear plugs.

Obviously a dog isn’t as damaging to the environment as an SUV, but that doesn’t mean owning one is environmentally sensitive.

And as it says on the side of the can, "Warning may contain traces of meat".

Humans eating meat is a huge problem too. It's not healthy, and to gain or maintain a pound of weight takes an immense amount of clean water and grain. Better for us all to eat the grain and drink the water itself. Eating meat the way we do now is cruel, wasteful, destructive and completely and totally unsustainable.

I eat meat myself but am not too happy about it, every year I eat less. A natural hunter gatherer diet, which is probably optimal for us, contains only a small percentage of meat.

As for dogs eating meat, they too can survive with less meat and more veggies; in fact they can go totally vegetarian. Cats no.

A partial solution may come when start growing animal protein in vats. That meat will be healthy, nutritious, use a fraction of the land pasture does, and best of all, Bossy does not have to die. For reasons I don't understand, a lot of people recoil at the notion of eating cultured animal protein, preferring instead to raise animals under sick, cruel conditions, and then slaughter them in horrible inhumane ways.

Look, if you're considering NOT getting a dog because of some bullshit carbon footprint crap, please don't get the dog. An animal deserves a hell of a lot better person to spend its life with than you.

is the best creature in the world. Bar none. People should examine their own carbon footprints, not those of dogs. Dogs don't eat gluttonously or burn electricity or buy expensive items. And Paul, how sad that you don't know the love of a dog. You don't know what you're missing.

And Paul, how sad that you don't know the love of a dog. You don't know what you're missing.

Lucky escape for the dog though, so self righteous and precious the dog barks hurt his iddle widdle ears and he has to wear ear plugs - the horror!

I have been bringing up the possibility of growing the meat without the animal for about 25 years. I still get some very strange looks. But never mind, it will happen eventually.

To My Dog and @phylmom:

In my previous post I spared you my thoughts on the emotional impotence of many dog owners. Unlike cats, dogs have been bred for thousands of years to meet human needs. That was OK when they helped control farm animals and accompanied hunters, but most dog owners today keep them as idle pets. Their main purpose has become the emotional reinforcement of unhappy people whose life is otherwise somewhat sterile.

I find it both hilarious and sad that people reserve their emotional expression for creatures that are for all intents and purposes genetically engineered. How different is this from having sex with a robot? Dog ownership sometimes resembles membership in a sick cult.

For the record, I've had both cats and dogs. I think most dogs are needy to the point of annoyance. They've been yanked from their pack and constantly seek reassurance of their rank in a context that has no relationship to their origins. They're unhappy when left alone, as they often are, and therefore bark, chew furniture, etc. I prefer cats, because they're still wild and can survive on their own if necessary. I'm still mourning my cat that died in 1980. Currently I have no pets, but appreciate a cat that pays visits to my yard in search of prey.

"I prefer cats, because they're still wild and can survive on their own if necessary."

As an active cat rescuer, I can assure you that this is unfortunately not true. Cats, especially pet cats lost or intentionally abandoned, often starve to death, struggle to find water, or freeze to death. These are domesticated animals and while some can manage to live for several years outdoors, most die miserable deaths.

All cats should be spayed or neutered, kitten mills should be shut down, and anyone desiring a cat or other pet should, please, adopt one from your local shelter.

of course, they are pack animals, unlike cats, then i think they were somehow bred for it, particularly the lapdog types.

i inherited a dog, and it is rather annoying sometimes, howling after i leave, bothering the neighbors, but i can't see putting it down for that, the poor thing is only following its nature.

If you get a SUV with an electric drive and solar/wind-charged batteries, and there is a infrastructure to support that (battery-charging/swap stations powered by a renewable energy-based grid), then there is no fossil carbon involved in your transportation.

We know we can do this because, unlike with coal carbon and sequestration, there are working real-world examples of all the necessary components, and there is also enough sunlight and wind to meet the energy demand.

It just requires building a lot of infrastructure, which also involves creating a lot of jobs... and yet Wall Street, despite sucking up $700 billion in taxpayer money, won't invest in that infrastructure. Instead, they want to keep pumping their dinosaur fuel until all the wells run dry...

Beans&Greens:

I agree that domesticated cats aren't necessarily capable of taking care of themselves. Feral cats do better, but have much shorter life expectancies. However, the life expectancies of most house pets aren't normal for their species. Historically, it was cats that chose to live with people, rather than vice versa. I meant that they have never been domesticated to the extent of dogs, and therefore live much closer to their biological roots.

At first I couldn't figure out whether the cat that comes into my yard was feral. It was very thin and hunted chipmunks and birds and did not trust people at all. I was thinking of adopting it, but one day it had a collar and tag on it, so a neighbor may have beaten me to it. It's now putting on weight and seems healthier and happier.

I also agree that all cats should be neutered.