ps here is a thread with information on the explained above issues.
http://vegan-information.com/Vegan_Dogs_and_Cats.html Nutrition...is simply about Nutrition ! Protein, Fats, vitamins, Minerals etc ! Welcome to Vegan Information! Vegan, Dogs, Cats, Pets, Veganism, Nutrition, Food "nutrients, not ingredients is what really matters" Dr Andrew Keith quote. For...
www.veganforum.org
Summary of reasons for feeding dogs cats ferrets readily available vegan pet foods that have been out for over 30 years without any recalls.
1.
They have been sold publically with never any recalls, not one, never any published cases of sick or dead pets due to the foods for over 30 years now world wide.
There have been in contrast THOUSANDS of deaths and sick dogs and cats from proven caused by pet foods of non vegan content. In 2020...
5 out of 7 recalls by the government pet food authorities were RAW pet foods.
Those FACTS are easily verifiable as the Government Food Authorities publish public notices of recalls of petfoods easily found by a simple google search and reproduced in many websites and online sources.
2.
There are government pet food authorities who set the standards and control recalls of any lacking or causing serious health or death problems pet foods.
In the USA this is the
FDA and the
standard setters are AAFCO. In Europe this is the
FEDIAF.
These are independant nutrition scientific experts...not earning from selling any pet foods but independant standard setters and controllers of pet foods.
3.
All pet foods sold publically have by law to be "species appropriate" and by labels state if "complete" and for what life stages.
There are laws governing these issues and therefore it is totally incorrect to speak of vegan pet foods not being "species appropriate" as by LAW that is what they are if sold to the public.
4.
There are many health benefits well documented from freeding vegan pet foods.
There are many prescription pet foods that since decades have been mostly vegan to cure many health problems in many dogs and cats.
Both those statements are easily verifiable by easy google searches and knowledge of what are in prescription pet foods and why. Many cats dogs have allergies to animal pet foods is a fact.
Many heart diseases are alleviated by feeding plant based foods.
5.
Many not peer reviewed websites make erroneous statements about vegan pet foods.
One has to be aware of influences of the meat industry on those linked to earning from the pet foods they recommend.
TAURINE is a matter many seemingly knowledgeable websites get very wrong....and any review of the details on labels on pet foods of the TAURINE content would reveal that it is synthetic so vegan in all commercial cat foods so those claiming it is only found in meat and that vegan cat foods would make a cat go blind or die due to lack of taurine...are totally wrong...and have not understood the first point about PET FOOD LAWS controlling pet foods as well as the taurine nutrient source of all commercial cat foods.
Those are the
NUTRITIONAL reasons for feeding cats and dogs vegan.
Now to the
ETHICAL VEGAN reason.
6.
Veganism means..."animals are not ours to use"
So breeding and killing animals is simply not vegan.
7.
Cruelty...ethical not legal cruelty...is an important distinction.
One needs to realise...there is a difference between "cruelty" as defined by the LAW...for which animal welfare act laws exist...which allow killing of animals legally as not cruel as defined by the law...nor is vegan legal pet food "cruel" of course per the law.
The ETHICAL judgemental view of "cruelty" that sees as veganism does the breeding and killing of animals as "cruelty" is what vegans believe in ethically.
Therefore...
there is a huge distinction between describing feeding an animal food as cruel as compared to killing an animal.
The 2 actions are totally incomparable i suggest. Anyone who thinks they are similar needs to re examine their ideas or explain why they would be similar.
Before anyone writes accusing anyone of "cruelty" and "forcing things on animals" again on this topic...
Can i ask..that ALL such comments.....include mention of the "cruelty" of "forcing death" on forced into existance as prisoners captive baby life stage animals owned by humans.
Describe...what "cruelty" is involved in putting food in a dish that an animal clearly thrives on and does not ever die of...compared to..the "cruelty" of force breeding animals and forcing them to die as babies ? i mean most killed animals are between 1 day old and a few months old when killed by humans...so far...there are 20 year old healthy vegan fed cats around and less old vegan fed dogs albeit Bramble famous example lived to age 25 similarly to her unrelated companion dogs.
There are legal definitions of what "cruelty" to animals is...and nowhere is pet food included as one of them.
Morally if not legally cruelty is surely killing baby animals ? if anyone does not think so...then explain that or admit one is not vegan if not believing this to be true.
Do people talking of "forcing things" on animals owned by humans think animals owned by humans that are slaughtered to willingly to their deaths ?
Do people talking of "forcing things on animals humans own" not think forcing death on these animals is not forcing them ?
My view....is that "animals are not ours to use"
So as baby chicks...lambs...turkeys...fish...are not ours to use...i have no right as a vegan to take their lives.
What is not mine...is not mine to take the life of.
i see no cruelty meaning suffering or death in 20 year old vet tested healthy vegan cats and vet tested healthy long lived vegan dogs. Bramble 25 years lived healthy vegan dog famous example is well known and several companions fed the same not related dogs lived similar long lives with Anne Heritage the owner.
Working Huskies scientific peer reviwed studies showed vegan fed working huskies out per formed the meat fed ones...and there is no breed needing more high quality energy than a working huskey.
That study as well as other PEER REVIEWED scientific studies on vegan diets for pet dogs and cats and reference to Little Tyke the famous vegetarian Lioness in the USA who never ate meat at all and never had any health issues due to diet are referenced in this website in particular of highly qualified international expert Dr Andrew Knight...
www.vegepets.com
PEER REVIEWED means not just individual vet or individual scientist views...but checked verified as independant valid conclusions by independant experts.
Andrew Knight BSc (Vet Biol), BVMS, CertAW, MANZCVS, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), DipACAW, PhD, FRCVS, PFHEA
Andrew Knight is a ridiculously busy bloke. He is Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, and Founding Director of the Centre for Animal Welfare, at the University of Winchester; a EBVS European and RCVS Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law; an American and New Zealand Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare; a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and a Principal Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.
Andrew has over 65 academic publications and a series of YouTube videos on animal issues. These include an extensive series examining the contributions to human healthcare of animal experiments, which formed the basis for his 2010 PhD and his 2011 book
The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments. Andrew’s other publications have examined the contributions of the livestock sector to climate change, vegetarian companion animal diets, the animal welfare standards of veterinarians, and the latest evidence about animal cognitive and related abilities, and the resultant moral implications. His informational websites include
www.AnimalExperiments.info,
www.HumaneLearning.info and
www.VegePets.info