Plant-based dog food cuts environmental impact by over 90% vs. red meat

[Judi Lynn]

By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD
Reviewed by Lauren Hardaker
Sep 29 2025

New research reveals just how much greener plant-based kibble is compared to meat-based dog food, from saving football fields of farmland to the carbon cost of long-haul flights.

Dry dog foods in the United Kingdom may be classified as plant-based or animal-based. Each has a different environmental impact. A recent paper in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems breaks down, for the first time, the environmental costs of each type of dog food.

Introduction
Plant-based foods have multiple health and environmental benefits when used as a main or sole part of the diet. Compared with animal-based foods, they generate far fewer greenhouse gases, cause less deforestation, and put less strain on soil fertility and biodiversity. They also reduce pressure on freshwater supplies and contribute less to soil and air pollution.

In 2018, the global dog population was about 471 million. While dogs are natural omnivores, meat-heavy diets drive significant greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, making up an estimated 2.5% to 8% of China's total emissions. In Brazil, dog food was estimated to produce 3% to 25% of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions. Commercial dog food production produces threefold higher emissions than feeding dogs on human leftover food.

Prior research suggests that pet food production uses up 41 to 58 million hectares of farmland, or twice as much land as the entire area of the UK. Most of this comes from animal-based pet food manufacturing. According to human food supply chain statistics, plant protein production requires much less resource than animal meat production, but direct comparisons for pet food in the UK are lacking.

More:
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250929/Plant-based-dog-food-cuts-environmental-impact-by-over-9025-vs-red-meat.aspx