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I've been doing some thinking about this whole "dogs CAN survive on a vegan diet" thing. Frankly, it still smells like bullshit to me. But I've been thinking about it... even if it is true, I still say it's unethical. Here we have dogs, a creature that in the wild eats 99% meat and 1% plant matter. Wild canines only eat plants for medicinal purposes, or when eating the stomach contents of their prey. This makes them carnivores.
A lot of people get confused about what "carnivore" really means, because a lot of people who prefer meat to vegetables call themselves carnivores. No, sorry, that does not make you a carnivore, it makes you an omnivore. All humans are omnivores, regardless of their personal dietary preferences, because that is how humans evolved. The teeth and internal organs of omnivores are very disctinctive. Herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores have very different insides and teeth; you can tell what an animal's diet is by their teeth and their digestive system. And like it or not, humans are definetely omnivores.
Veganism works for some humans because humans are omnivores. If humans were true carnivores, it would take some kind of weird evolutionary fluke to subsist on plants alone, as in panda bears. (Pandas are biologically carnivores, but somehow they manage to survive only on bamboo. They are, thus, an evolutionary oddity.)
But dogs are true carnivores. Therefore, it doesn't matter if they can, somehow, survive on a vegan diet. Just because you can survive something doesn't mean you're happy or healthy. There is just no possible way for a truly carnivorous species like dogs to thrive on a vegan diet. I know a lot of stupid people say the same kind of thing for human vegans, but those people are idiots. Hindus have proven that humans can thrive on a vegan diet; they've been doing it for centuries. But dogs? Dogs may survive a vegan diet, but there's no way for them to even begin to approach thriving.
With this in mind, I sincerely believe forcing a vegan diet on a dog is unethical, and is at least animal neglect, if not animal cruelty. I think there ought to be a law against forcing a dog to be a vegan, I sincerely do.
A lot of people get confused about what "carnivore" really means, because a lot of people who prefer meat to vegetables call themselves carnivores. No, sorry, that does not make you a carnivore, it makes you an omnivore. All humans are omnivores, regardless of their personal dietary preferences, because that is how humans evolved. The teeth and internal organs of omnivores are very disctinctive. Herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores have very different insides and teeth; you can tell what an animal's diet is by their teeth and their digestive system. And like it or not, humans are definetely omnivores.
Veganism works for some humans because humans are omnivores. If humans were true carnivores, it would take some kind of weird evolutionary fluke to subsist on plants alone, as in panda bears. (Pandas are biologically carnivores, but somehow they manage to survive only on bamboo. They are, thus, an evolutionary oddity.)
But dogs are true carnivores. Therefore, it doesn't matter if they can, somehow, survive on a vegan diet. Just because you can survive something doesn't mean you're happy or healthy. There is just no possible way for a truly carnivorous species like dogs to thrive on a vegan diet. I know a lot of stupid people say the same kind of thing for human vegans, but those people are idiots. Hindus have proven that humans can thrive on a vegan diet; they've been doing it for centuries. But dogs? Dogs may survive a vegan diet, but there's no way for them to even begin to approach thriving.
With this in mind, I sincerely believe forcing a vegan diet on a dog is unethical, and is at least animal neglect, if not animal cruelty. I think there ought to be a law against forcing a dog to be a vegan, I sincerely do.
