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I'm sure most pets wouldn't be able to survive on their own, so its pretty obvious that we are putting an inflated strain on the food chain by providing meals f
by devmunchies 9y ago
I'm sure most pets wouldn't be able to survive on their own, so its pretty obvious that we are putting an inflated strain on the food chain by providing meals for them.
I wonder if there are a lot more carnivores than would otherwise naturally exist (with pets included), or if there is a similar number of carnivores but less diversity (e.g. an ecosystem that would have housed other carnivores is now hosting pigs and cows).
I never would have thought I would see "pets" as environmental argument but its a no brainer.
- dtech 9y agoWhat a bollocks argument. Humans in their current numbers could not exist in a traditional food chain, that's why we made our own. Pets live off that same increased food supply.
- Retric 9y agoWhile modern agriculture is significantly more efficient, the food surplus and over consumption is also massive. So, I am not sure the numbers are that different.
- devmunchies 9y agoPlus its not like we have our own food chain in a vacuum. There is a lot of space required to house livestock and even more space required to grow their food.
- kharms 9y agoThere were about 30 million bison in North America before we hunted them near extinction. Bison, especially young ones, are prey to wolves and bears. Bison weight about 1.5x cows. There are about 100 million cows, and if about 30% of those feed pets the numbers come out similar. There are also pigs and chickens, and depleted river fish/wild fowl populations. Wolves/bears are heavier so the same mass of prey supports a smaller population. Still, I think we'd be in the same order of magnitude. Edit: actually I might be an order of magnitude off, depending on the length of life. If cows live a year before slaughter, vs bison living 10 years. No idea what the real numbers are.
- oh_sigh 9y agoMeat cattle are usually slaughtered at 3 years, which is the sweet spot of quality and quantity of meat. There are also many calves which are slaughtered around 4 months for things like veal
- oh_sigh 9y agoIt's not like we're feeding them filet mignon. As the article states, much of the meat may be either not suitable or not desirable leftovers after human consumables are removed.