Pets: what impact on the environment?

Our cats, our dogs, we love them. A lot. So much so, sometimes, that we hide our faces as to the impact that sharing our lives with a pet can have on the environment. A quick overview.

Today, 50% of French people share their foyer with a pet. In 2018, a Facco / Kantar TNS survey counted in our country more than 14 million cats and more than 7.5 million dogs. Figures that grow every year. And that's not to mention the 32 million Pisces and 12 million farmyard animals. Of rodents, birds, terrarium animals and horses, donkeys and ponies.

In this period of climate crisis, some are asking the question ofenvironmental impact of our pets. And in the matter, it is especially the impact of their diet that we must worry about. In France alone, almost 2 million tonnes of animal feed have been produced. Our dogs and cats are particularly consumers of meat. However the production of this meat is energy consuming and at the origin of theprogram quantities of greenhouse gas.

In 2017, a study showed that in the United States, dogs and cats are responsible – not only for their food, but also for their excrement – each year, the emission of 64 million tonnes CO equivalent2. An issue comparable to that of some 13 million cars !

Pets and impact on biodiversity

Another possible impact of our pets on the environment: an increase in the number of germs in rivers. Germs from dog excrement, but especially feline. And which can cause poisoning of mammalssailors, in particular, by the toxoplasmosis . At issue, essentially, the cat owners who empty the litter boxes in the toilet or in the middle of nature.

The impact of our domestic dogs and cats on the biodiversity has also been studied. They are thus accused of weighing a pressure important on ecosystems by hunting, but also by being a vector of diseases or by destroying habitats and by modifying territories. A recent study on cats has shown that their impact on biodiversityis ten times greater than that of a wild predator of comparable size by killing, around their house, between 14 and 39 prey per hectare each year.

But solutions exist to limit the impact of our dogs and cats on the environment. The first of these is to control their number through sterilization operations. Especially for cats who often go out unaccompanied. And maybe limit yourself to sharing your house with only one animal. Another possibility is to adopt your animal in a shelter. Again, a great way to limit the number of dogs and cats in circulation.

Finally, we must not forget that despite everything, our pets also have a positive impact on us (socialization, lower blood pressure and cardiovascular illnesses , decrease in depression, etc.). And that, as in the rest of our lives, if we can stay measured, their impact on the environment will remain so.

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