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Pets' Carbon Pawprint Cause for Alarm

Fido, Fluffy fetch bad news for environment

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 27, 2009 3:38 AM CDT

(Newser) – Forget the gas guzzler—it's Fluffy and Fido who are delivering a carbon blow to the global environment. That's the odd warning from a pair of New Zealand professors who claim the carbon pawprint of a large dog delivers twice the impact of a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 6,000 miles a year. A cat is more akin to driving a Volkswagen Golf, while a hamster is like owning a plasma TV.

Some scientists whine that the profs are barking up the wrong tree, but the duo reached their conclusion in their book, Time to Eat the Dog, by calculating, among other things, how much growing space it takes to raise the food to sustain a pet. One spot for wiggle room: the smaller the pet, the less the impact. Meow.

The bigger the pet, the larger the impact.
The bigger the pet, the larger the impact.   (©claudiogennari)
He's cute, but is he worth the environmental damage?
He's cute, but is he worth the environmental damage?   (©bulliver)
The environmental impact of a typical cat is equivalent to driving a Volkswagen Golf, according to two New Zealand professors.
The environmental impact of a typical cat is equivalent to driving a Volkswagen Golf, according to two New Zealand professors.   (©cygnus921)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 22 comments
KittyK
Nov 27, 2011 12:47 PM CST
I can't believe that this is true. If we were not here on earth. There would still be large populations of wild animals here making carbon. Oh yes when Mount Saint. Helen blew it emitted more carbon at that time then man had already produced
OWLWOMANXXXX
Oct 27, 2009 12:29 PM CDT
I know of some people we can get rid of to reduce the environmental impact...lol
SilenceDogood
Oct 27, 2009 11:59 AM CDT
How do you explain China bringing on line five coal power plants a months?

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