Should dog treats be vegan?
It’s Veganuary, and many humans are giving up meat (or decreasing their consumption) for a whole month. There are considerable health and environmental benefits if done well. But should dogs be doing the same?
I am not a pet nutritionist, so I can’t weigh in too heavily on whether dogs can be fully vegan. Whilst it may be possible for them to get all their nutrients from plant-based foods, my instinct is that it will be easier/safer to incorporate meat into their diet to make sure they get everything they need.
However, it is clear that dogs have evolved to become facultative carnivores - they can digest some carbohydrates (unlike cats) and get the nutritional benefits. So not everything in their diet needs to contain meat.
So the main things I believe are:
- Meat production puts a lot of strain on the environment
- Plant-based food can provide valuable nutrition for dogs
- Dog biscuits don't have to contain all the nutrition that a dog needs - it's a treat after all!
This is why we designed BrewBix with a vegan recipe. There is no need to add meat to dog treats, so we didn’t. Especially as we know plenty of dogs that love the Bix as they are!