Fresh pet food platform VetChef is helping worried pet owners drive down the growing environmental impact of dog ownership with the launch of the world’s first carbon pawprint tracker.
It enables owners to make informed decisions on pet nutrition by analysing ingredients to give recipes a low, medium or high carbon pawprint rating..
The initiative is part of VetChef’s commitment to helping owners prioritise the planet, while at the same time not compromising on their dog’s well-being.
This follows an explosion in pet ownership during lockdown, which saw families welcome 5.7m new animals between March and September last year.
VetChef founder and head vet Dr Joe Inglis said: “The launch of our carbon pawprint tracker is a real game-changer for pet parents who are looking to drive down the environmental impact of dog ownership.
“Our mission is to support pet owners who are joining the growing number of people feeding their dogs a diet of fresh, homemade food.
“It is intrinsically more eco-friendly than processed foods, as there is less energy-intensive processing involved, less oil-based packaging, and less food product miles.
“In addition to these basic CO2 savings, preparing a dog’s food at home means owners have the opportunity to move their dogs to a flexitarian or even vegetarian diet without impairing their nutritional wellbeing. And this can have a massive impact on the overall carbon pawprint of a dog.”
The carbon pawprint tracker forms part of VetChef’s new My VetChef recipe planner.
The service provides a range of healthy, fresh, home-cooked recipe options, all tailored specifically to the individual dog’s needs – while also calculating their relative environmental impact – displaying the results as low, medium or high impact.
