If you are vegetarian and a dog owner do you feel guilty buying your pet food?

Question

Bearing in mind that if you feed a dog non meat foods it is a form of cruelty.

Answer 1

They like us, could actually live happily & healthily on a vegetarian diet alone. Or at least a sea food only diet. A meat free diet is not cruel, actually it's safer health wise. Meat is far more prone to cause illness, than not eating meat. As they do not have the knowledge to understand what death is & that another animal had to suffer for them to have their meal. They live unaware & always will, unless they evolve like we have. Becoming capable of understanding what death is & that it's forever. That's not to say they are not inteligent, animals are highly inteligent. Technically humans are still animals too. But we are able to understand the consept of death more readily, that's the main difference. Personally I don't have a pet. There are way too many animals out there used by humans as it is. W/o breeding them just to obtain selfish pleasure from them. Dogs rescued from shelters etc on the other hand are fine, because they are being saved.

Humans obviously do not need meet. They just still eat it because they are selfishly addicted to the taste of it & don't mind murdering.

Answer 2

I'll have to check out the responses you get in the Vegetarian section! First of all, people are allowed to do what they like with their dogs, and it's not up to me to tell them not to. That being said, unless my dog had some condition where he couldn't eat meat, there is no way I would ever try to reverse the nature by forcing my dog to be a vegetarian. Although I do believe a bit of vegetation is alright for dogs, I also believe that they are *primarily* carnivores. I really think only completely ignorant and/or selfish people would try to force vegetarianism on my dog. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that vegetarian dogs are just one of the many ways that people humanize their dogs. As a side note, there was actually once a question here maybe a month ago about how to make a dog have VEGAN diet! ADD: Aw, your question in the Vegetarian section was deleted. :(

Answer 3

Feeding your dog meatless foods is not a form of cruelty. I'm not a vegetarian myself and any dog I've had has eaten nutritionally balanced food. However, I have met numerous people, some of them not vegetarians either who have their dogs on vegetarian diets and have noticed a vast improvement in their dog's health. Much of the "meat" put into dog food is not only a low grade bi-product with little or no nutritional value to it at all but also contains high levels of growth hormones fed to the livestock at the feed lot. Bear in mind that the majority of those bi-products are the organs of the slaughtered animals and therefore the filtering agents for storing toxic waste (such as chemicals, growth hormones, etc). And as long is the dog is getting at least an adequate diet, there's no cruelty to it. There are many dog (and cat) food brands out there that excel in providing optimum nutritional requirements. One of my cats actually prefers a food that has no meat bi-products in it at all. She's much healthier than my fat cat on a diabetic diet that still has meat bi-products in it. Granted, dogs are by nature carnivores so I can understand your concern in that regard but as long as a dog gets fed what it needs and is loved and well-cared for, there's no cruelty in going the vegetarian route -- especially if it's for health reasons. Didn't mean this as a lecture but it seems it came out that way. It was totally intended to shed a little more light on a myth or 2, that's all.

Answer 4

I understand that my dog is not a vegetarian and it is intended to be an omniviour (note that dogs get certain vitamins and nutrients from plant matter). I feel bad about how many meat processing plants slaughter their animals and I decline to purchase from the companies who buy from these slaughterhouses. As a human, designed biologically to be an herbaviour I know that my choice in dog food is justified by biology. So no I do not feel guilty.

Answer 5

I do not feel guilty at all, Dogs need the protien. I make 95% of my own dog food. She gets a variety of protiens, Eggs most breakfastes, & some type of Turkey or Chicken "Stew" made with lots of organic veggies, brown rice, qunioa. She also gets raw greens, carrots, she loves organic dates. Even fish is on her diet.
Pre-made store bought food is just a small part of her diet. She is a very healthy 10 year old boxer-Lab mix.

Answer 6

A high-quality vegan dog food is not a form of cruelty. I've known people who have had happy, healthy vegetarian dogs. Our companion rats & mice eat vegan dog food & biscuits to supplement their grains, fruits & veggies.

Answer 7

Oh, hi troll. Is it cruel not to feed your cat or dog live animals so that they get to chase/hunt it? I really don't think so. There are vegan pet foods for both dogs AND cats that are formulated to ALL of their needs. It's not like kibble is hard to beat in flavor. Thank you for trying though.

How many accounts DO you have anyway? Get a life.

Harry D
Billie B
Jimmy S

Answer 8

buying your dog food is not a problem, and they do make a veg. diet for dogs, cats have to have a meat diet, dogs do not. I have 2 with IBD (inflammatory bowl disease) and they have to change proteins every 3 months (ie venison, duck, and a vegetarian formula). We do feed them a veg. diet and if we didn't change there proteins they throw up and that would be a form of cruelty. If they didn't have the IBD then we could just keep them on the veg. diet.

Answer 9

feeding a dog a non- meat is not a form of cruelty, it's healthier for them that was my science project this year, my dog was more enegized then ever

Answer 10

Dogs live quite healthily eating vegan food. My dog loves apples and tofu. <3
If my dog seemed unhealthy I would start feeding him non-vegan dog food, but he's doing very well. My grandmother's dog lived for 17 years and he was a vegetarian the whole time.
My dog is happy, energetic, and healthy.
If for medical reasons I had to feed my puppy meat, I would not feel guilty. Humans are the only animals who should be held accountable for eating other animals.