Tessa Zaune-Figlar first thought the vet was joking when she recommended feeding her dog a vegetarian diet. The animal, a shepherd-labrador mix, suffered from itching and frequent diarrhea. For a long time it was not clear why – until Zaune-Figlar followed the advice and gave up animal food for her dog. At first she found it absurd, the 38-year-old entrepreneur recalls. “The dog is descended from the wolf!” Nevertheless, she tried it, mixed tofu, millet, lentils, potatoes and various vegetables, added a mineral powder and served it to her dog. “After four weeks, the symptoms were gone,” says Zaune-Figlar.
Inspired by this experience, the dog owner founded »Vegdog«, a company that specializes in vegan dog food. The products have been on the market since 2016; they are called “Farmer’s Crunch” (dry food), “Sensible Little No. 1” (canned food) or “Dentals” (beetroot chews). From the point of view of proponents – just like with humans – there is a lot to be said for this form of nutrition. It should be healthier, counteract factory farming and protect the climate.
A study by the Technical University of Berlin came to the conclusion that an average dog emits so much CO2 emits like 13 return flights from Berlin to Barcelona or 72,800 kilometers in a car. The majority of this, the authors of the study write, comes from animal-based dog food. It is true that mostly slaughterhouse by-products such as heart, lung, stomach, udder or tongue are processed, i.e. body parts that people hardly eat anyway. However, there are also manufacturers who advertise “pure muscle meat”. In other words, animals are bred and killed to feed other animals.
Today’s dog can eat anything
At the same time, more and more manufacturers are offering vegetarian or vegan food. But the skepticism remains: Is such a diet really species-appropriate for dogs? Or can an animal that descends from the wild wolf not do anything with beetroot, lentils and tofu? Many dog owners are unsure and, if in doubt, prefer to give their darling standard food – often even if they do not eat any animals themselves. There are still only a few scientific studies that deal with such questions. However, the existing studies come to an astonishingly clear result: Today’s dogs can basically eat anything.