The Dog or the Car... one has to go.

[Mad Doug Biker]

Presumably a three-legged dog has a smaller carbon footprint?

It has fewer footprints, but that's not the same thing...

Well, on the Strathspey Steam Railway up in Teuchterland, they sell special dog tickets, and the tariff is 25p per leg
Of course, the dirty great big steam engine or 1950s diseasal cancel out any benefit, if indeed there was any in the first place.

You can get vegetarian dog food, I don't know if you can get vegan though. And whether the dog would like it is another thing entirely,

Cindy eats the food that looks like balls of sawdust. No meat in sight!

 

[Mad at urage]

There is a food industry involved here. The wastage from this industry is the problem since it is not "given" to those who could really use it. Not to get too political, but I think we can all agree that capitalism, as an economic practice, necessarily creates waste, a corollary of meeting market demands. It's true that we should take more repsonsiblity over what we eat, but without some sort of systemic change, these dietary changes will be seen as little more than a slight shift on a trend analysis graph.

There is indeed a food industry, with associated waste. It is as much an industry when it produces vegan or vegetarian food as when it produces food for omnivores (which was sort-of the point of my previous post).

 

[Adasta]

There is indeed a food industry, with associated waste. It is as much an industry when it produces vegan or vegetarian food as when it produces food for omnivores (which was sort-of the point of my previous post).

You're right, but I don't think this remedies the faulty logic involved in the original article and in subsequent arguments in this thread. A lot of people (and I'm not restricting myself to this thread) seem to think this is a black & white issue; in fact, it is highly reductive to think of things that way.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Whether or not the environmental cost of a dog is as high as a car is clearly a matter for debate. However, there's no doubt that some dogs probably eat as much as a person (a person with a big appetite for meat!), and more than many malnourished people in the world (I think there are getting on for a billion malnourished people on Earth).

But then again, have you ever noticed how people who starve animals are often the size of small houses??
There was a case a year or two back where a woman starved a dog to death because she didn't have enough money for its food. But she didn't look short of food, THAT'S for sure - Oh how I would have loved whacking her stupid fat face against something hard before starving HER .

In the same way, when a dog owner sees a picture of a starving child, with a bloated stomach, big eyes, covered in flies etc, and an accompanying plea for a £1 / day, they'll look at their dog and say "Sorry kid, you can't compete with Fido".

Don't be so patronising, I gave money to some of the charities in the past, but then eventually started asking the question 'with all the aid 3rd world countries have been getting over the decades, why has nothing massively improved?? where is my money actually going?' I thought I was helping the kid in the aforementioned picture, but it seems that even this is out of my control, sad as it is (yes I know the kid is entirely innocent, I am under no illusions about the ethics here, but I have tried to help).
At the same time, you (perhaps) fall into the trap of thinking that somehow humans are more important than any other animal. I agree that there are far too many pets out there, just there are people, but at the same time, I'd rather help an animal than a fellow human any day!

You see, I hope they sort out the environmental problems, not becuase I want to see humanity saved, oh no, we are too ****ing stupid to deserve that, no, I hope they do it so that all the innocent animals (who clearly know better than we do, except possibly the cows) can roam this earth in peace without us spoiling the party. After all, animals existed for millennia before we appeared, so can clearly continue to survive without us..

 

[subaqua]

It depends on the breed surely?? I mean, someone's lapdog is hardly the same as say, a Colly.



I do pick up, but what gets me are all the high and mighty people with cats who drone on about it, how we are all awful people and obviously never keep a dog on a lead, therefore not having any control of it ....and then let their cat out every night to, what?? roam about, geting run over by cars, killing and injuring small animals and THEN doing a TOXIC TURD on my lawn!

Cat pooh is FAR worse than dog's, ask any gardener and they will tell you exactly what they think of cats!

i know exactly how bad cat s*ite is

 

[DrSquirrel]

Cat pooh is FAR worse than dog's, ask any gardener and they will tell you exactly what they think of cats!

Ask a motorist and they will tell you exactly what they think of cyclists...

Obviously means they're correct.

What about gardeners with cats?

 

[Davidc]

Don't like cars. Don't like dogs. I'm a miserable git really.

The environmental tag is rubbish. Neither is good for the environment, but overall humans are far worse.

The chances of humans stopping their headlong rush to environmental armageddon are diminishingly small, so enjoy the world while you can and have both.

 

[subaqua]

[QUOTE 1291055"]
Cats are rubbish.
[/quote]

thats a bit tame . Sh*t is a far better description

 

[Davidc]

thats a bit tame . Sh*t is a far better description

They may produce it in copious quantities, and then leave it in my garden, but I don't believe they're made of it!

 

[the snail]

I wonder if the dog's diet is actually worse than the average human diet in terms of Co2 emissions.

"More or less" on radio 4 dealt with this, or rather cats, but similar logic I think. Meat is bad for the environment, but cats and dogs are mostly fed on meat that is a by-product of the meat industry, either unfit for human consumption or just too low value, so pets have almost no marginal cost to the environment.

 

[Zippy]

I'm sure bullocks produce far more CO2 emissions than dogs, cars and humans together so should all humans be Vegan and Cyclists?

 

[al78]

But then again, have you ever noticed how people who starve animals are often the size of small houses??
There was a case a year or two back where a woman starved a dog to death because she didn't have enough money for its food. But she didn't look short of food, THAT'S for sure - Oh how I would have loved whacking her stupid fat face against something hard before starving HER .



Don't be so patronising, I gave money to some of the charities in the past, but then eventually started asking the question 'with all the aid 3rd world countries have been getting over the decades, why has nothing massively improved?? where is my money actually going?' I thought I was helping the kid in the aforementioned picture, but it seems that even this is out of my control, sad as it is (yes I know the kid is entirely innocent, I am under no illusions about the ethics here, but I have tried to help).
At the same time, you (perhaps) fall into the trap of thinking that somehow humans are more important than any other animal. I agree that there are far too many pets out there, just there are people, but at the same time, I'd rather help an animal than a fellow human any day!

You see, I hope they sort out the environmental problems, not becuase I want to see humanity saved, oh no, we are too ****ing stupid to deserve that, no, I hope they do it so that all the innocent animals (who clearly know better than we do, except possibly the cows) can roam this earth in peace without us spoiling the party. After all, animals existed for millennia before we appeared, so can clearly continue to survive without us..

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Misanthropy

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Misanthropy

Yes, quite!

Actually, I don't aim it at EVERYONE, just the majority of the population who should really know better.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Cats are ace. Dogs are like kids: other people's are nice but I wouldn't want one of my own. Cars can be fun, if you buy something either very old or very fast.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Dogs are like kids: other people's are nice but I wouldn't want one of my own. Cars can be fun, if you buy something either very old or very fast.

No matter how old or fast they are, a car is still only an inanimate chunk of metal which only serves you to become fatter and less fit. It DOESN'T LOVE YOU.

A dog on the other hand is a living breathing animal which will love you forever, and which keeps you fit by taking you for walks. Not only that, but with a dog you discover new places which you had no reason to go to or know about before. You see so much more of an area with a dog than you ever would with a car or, dare I say it, probably a b*ke.

Nope, sell you car and get some Huskies to pull you around on a cart/sledge!