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SUMMARY:Should Cats and Dogs go Vegan? - Professor Andrew Knight\, Univers
 ity of Winchester
DTSTART:20220128T173000Z
DTEND:20220128T183000Z
UID:TALK164206@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:Andrew Knight is Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics\, and 
 Founding Director of the University of Winchester Centre for Animal Welfar
 e\, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Environment and Science at Grif
 fith University\, Queensland. An experienced cat and dog veterinarian\, he
 ’s also a European\, American\, New Zealand and RCVS-recognised Veterina
 ry Specialist in animal welfare and related fields. He has around 150 acad
 emic and 80 popular publications\, and an extensive series of YouTube vide
 os and several websites (including www.sustainablepetfood.info)\, on plant
 -based companion animal diets\, climate change and the livestock sector\, 
 invasive animal research\, educational animal use\, humane clinical and su
 rgical skills training\, and other animal welfare issues. He regularly wor
 ks with animal welfare charities to advocate for animals\, and is frequent
 ly interviewed by the media. He has received over 20 awards and research g
 rants for this work. \n\nThe environmental impacts of pet food (e.g.\, lan
 d use\, water use\, fossil fuel consumption\, greenhouse gas production\, 
 pesticide and fertilizer use\, and impacts on biodiversity loss)\, are glo
 bally significant. The proportion of ‘food’ animals used in pet food i
 s also significant. All of these impacts are set to rise\, due to increasi
 ng pet ownership worldwide\, and the changing social status of companion a
 nimals. However\, alternative pet foods based on novel protein sources suc
 h as plants and seaweed\, insects\, yeast\, fungi and laboratory grown mea
 t products\, are rapidly developing. Vegan pet foods are most developed. T
 hese use plant\, mineral and synthetic sources to ensure all necessary nut
 rients are included. In 2020 I surveyed 4\,060 dog or cat guardians to inv
 estigate determinants of pet food purchasing decisions\, as well as health
 \, behavioural and other outcomes on different diets. I also surveyed 29 m
 anufacturers to determine whether nutritional soundness and quality contro
 l of plant-based pet foods differed from those of meat-based diets. Result
 s from these and other studies indicate that the healthiest and least haza
 rdous pet foods may be nutritionally sound vegan diets. Detailed analysis 
 of feeding behaviour indicates dogs and cats generally find such diets as 
 palatable as conventional diets. And manufacturers of plant-based pet food
 s generally appear to adhere to equivalent or better quality control stand
 ards. The potential environmental and animal welfare benefits of plant-bas
 ed and alternative pet foods are significant. Their use is already rapidly
  increasing\, and significant expansion of this sector is expected in the 
 future.\n
LOCATION:Online
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