The Kiwi dogs who aren't allowed to eat meat

Saturday, 24 November 2018

While most dogs hanker for a slab of raw meat, Wicket's favourite foods are now pears and pumpkin seeds. 

The chihuahua cross gnaws on a carrot the way most dogs get stuck into a bone. 

He's one of a growing number of dogs fed a strictly vegan or vegetarian diet. 

And while some applaud the growing popularity of chickpea and soy-based kibble, others chide it as an unhealthy fad. 

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Wicket is a happy and healthy vegan dog, says owner Kia Barnes, from Ngāruawāhia. 

He's the second dog she's had on a vegan diet. 

'I had researched beforehand whether it was possible for dogs to be vegan,' Barnes said. ' Otherwise I was not really comfortable [killing] another animal to have an animal.

'I was surprised to find it could be done.' 

'He gets all of his nutritional requirements. he's happy, he's healthy.'

Barnes is used to people - including other vegans - berating her about her dog's veganism.  

But his coat is soft, his teeth are white and he's energetic, Barnes said. 

While Wicket would probably eat meat if it was put in front of him, he happily chows down vegan food, too. 

His meals usually consist of vegan kibble, although Barnes also makes homemade meals for him out of kumara, lentils and chickpeas, with added dietary supplements. 

Pears, pumpkin seeds and seaweed rice cracker dipped in hummus are among his favourites. 

Recently, when Wicket came across a raw meat bone at Barnes' mum's house, he took a sniff, stepped back and urinated on it. Another time, he caught a rabbit and tried to play with it, rather than eat it.  

'[He] lives in a vegan household so it's not like they're seeing meat and smelling steak all the time.'

Wicket even does dog agility, Barnes said. She trains him with pumpkin seeds, which he gobbles up. 

'So he's a vegan athlete.' 

Animal nutrition expert Nick Cave, from Massey University, reckons dog vegetarianism needs to be explored. 

Faced with an unsustainable meat industry, plant-based diets for dogs might become necessary. 

'For an increasing number - small - but an increasing number of pet owners, they are realising that they want to be vegetarian or even vegan,' Cave said. 'And on that basis they want their pets to be vegetarian or vegan.

'It is increasingly the case that our pet food industry - which is essentially a waste disposal stream - is increasingly competing for the very same ingredients that people consume.

'It is my very strong belief that not only can we, but we should, and probably will need to in the very near future, start feeding an awful lot of alternative protein sources to our beloved pets.' 

And it's possible - but very difficult to do. 

But some types of biscuits leave dogs at risk of nutrient deficiencies, Cave said. 

'Several manufacturers produce inadequate [food] that are not sufficient to maintain a dog or cat. They're well meaning, their heart is in the right place. But their minds are not. 

'That's taken as evidence that it can't be done. But it absolutely can be.'

It's all about the right balance of nutrients, no matter where it's from, Cave said. 

'It doesn't actually matter. As long as [they] get those amino acids.' 

Jerel Kwek, CEO of Addiction Foods - which supplies a vegetarian dog kibble - said the food was designed for dogs with meat allergies, which some dogs suffer from. 

But he's also seen a growing number of vegetarians looking into it for their dogs, too. 

'There is certainly a lot more interest for people concerned about pollution, the environment,' Kwek said. 'We have proven over the years that it works, through clinical trials and case studies around the world.' 

'My golden retriever and my poodle suffered from extraordinarily bad skin allergies … eventually I put them on a vegetarian diet.

'This [is] nonsense, that dogs can't be vegetarian … Every dog is different.' 

Certain dog diets, such as grain-free, have boomed over the fast five years, Pet Nutrition New Zealand director Calvin Smith said. 

But vegetarianism is taking it too far. 

'I have seen vegetarian [food] crop up, but in all honestly I think it's a fad that won't last. I think dogs and cats are more carnivore than we are.

'It's really inappropriate for them to be eating a vegetarian diet.'

For Fred Bryant, president of the Te Kuiti Pig Hunting Club, the idea of a vegan dog is unheard of. 

He has 10 dogs, a mixture of sheep and hunting dogs, which all need a lot of fat and protein for energy. 

'I've never considered having a dog on a vegetarian diet. 

'I didn't even know it was really a possibility.'

His dogs tuck into biscuits, frozen dog mix and home kill meat. He doubts whether any dog would shy away from an animal carcass. 

'They definitely prefer the meat, hands down. They always go for the meat first.'