British Veterinary Association recognizes vegan food for dogs as a healthy option
SOUTHAMPTON, England / ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2024 – The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has ended its opposition to (nutritionally sound) vegan diets for dogs. Until recently, this opposition was regularly reported, but the BVA also had a business relationship with Mars Petcare, a company that makes a lot of money from selling meat-based pet food. According to Andrew Knight, professor of animal welfare: “The Mars-BVA partnership presents a significant conflict of interest. Veterinary associations have a responsibility to ensure that their positions are evidence-based, up-to-date and uninfluenced by conflicts of interest.”
Following criticism over this, the BVA ended its public statements against vegan pet food in 2023 and established a working group to review its position on companion animal diets, including vegan diets. On July 24, 2024, the BVA ended its opposition to (nutritionally sound) vegan dog diets and published a paper and policy position paper on pet diet choices. The new policy affirmed: “It is possible to feed dogs a plant-based diet…” The policy did not attempt to determine what the ‘best’ diet is for individual pets, but focused on supporting pet owners to ensure they are meeting their pets’ nutritional needs and respecting their own lifestyle choices.
Pet owners are enthusiastic about adopting vegan pet diets. The BVA noted that 42% of companion animal veterinarians reported having clients feeding meat-free diets. The move to such diets is driven by concerns about the health, environmental impact, and welfare of animals in food production. In terms of pet health, as of mid-2024, ten studies in dogs and three in cats have shown that (nutritionally sound) vegan or vegetarian diets produced equivalent or better health outcomes. These studies include large-scale studies, studies using veterinary clinical trials, diagnostic tests and laboratory data, as well as studies reporting veterinary health assessments and owner opinions (which were recently found to be unaffected by diet choice, increasing confidence in their reliability).
In terms of environmental benefits, the most important study in this area recently found that a global transition to nutritionally sound vegan diets would have major environmental benefits for the 471 million dogs and 373 million cats kept worldwide in 2018. If all dogs switched, this would save more greenhouse gases than the total emissions of the UK. If all cats switched, enough food energy would be saved to feed 70 million people – more than the entire population of the UK. The transition of dogs could feed 450 million people – more than the entire population of the EU. And around seven billion farm animals would be saved from slaughter each year, or 9% of the global total, with significantly higher proportions in countries with many pets, such as the UK or the US.
Prof. Knight said: “It is commendable that the BVA has finally ended its unscientific opposition to (nutritionally sound) vegan dog diets and recognised the environmental benefits of plant-based ingredients. It is now up to international veterinary associations to do the same.” Further information can be found on Prof Knight’s website.
Contact information
Andrew Knight
Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare
andrew.knight@murdoch.edu.au
BVA: Vets must become the ‘trusted voice’ in discussions about alternative pet foods
BVA: Veterinarians must become the ‘trusted voice’ in discussions about alternative pet food
24 July 2024 – The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is calling on the profession to support pet owners in choosing a healthy and sustainable diet for their cats and dogs.
New research from BVA Voice of the Veterinary Profession reveals that many pet owners are choosing non-traditional diets for their cats and dogs. For example, 94% of companion animal vets report seeing clients feeding a raw diet, 42% report seeing clients feeding meat-free diets and 29% report seeing clients feeding insect protein instead of meat. However, the new data also revealed that many clients are not routinely discussing their diet choices with their vet, with 6 in 10 vets unsure how many of the cats and dogs they see are being fed meat-free diets.
In a new policy statement, developed by a panel of experts, the BVA urged veterinarians to have conversations with all cat and dog owners about the diets they have chosen, and to record feeding histories and any resulting problems in their practice systems.
BVA President Anna Judson said: “We know that cat and dog owners are increasingly drawn to pet foods that reflect their own values and lifestyle choices, leading to an increase in alternative approaches to pet nutrition. We support owners in making informed choices about what they feed their pets, but they need to be aware that these choices play a crucial role in the health of the animal and can also have a wider impact on human health and environmental sustainability.
“One of the key issues in these conversations is the lack of long-term, evidence-based research. If veterinary teams are to maintain our position as the ‘trusted voice’ in these conversations, it is vital that we ask the right questions and also capture as much data as possible so that we can understand the long-term impact of some of these new diets.”
The policy statement, launched today, does not attempt to determine the ‘best’ diet for individual pets, but rather focuses on supporting pet owners to ensure they are meeting the nutritional needs of their pets and respecting their own lifestyle choices.
As well as urging the profession to improve data recording and reporting, the BVA policy statement also recommends changes to veterinary education to place a new emphasis on the importance of nutrition in the initial competencies for vets and nurses, and to raise awareness of the need for supportive conversations with pet owners.
To support the profession in these conversations, the BVA intends to create a new public resource and lobby for better pet food labelling and improved labelling and traceability of animal feed by-products which are one of the main sources of protein in many cat and dog foods.
Anna said: “The issues surrounding pet nutrition are complex and with so much information available to pet owners from breeders, friends, online forums and other sources, we want to support all members of the veterinary team to feel completely confident in guiding their clients through their dietary decisions. We hope that these recommendations and our forthcoming resources will improve the information available to both clients and veterinarians and support owners in making healthy, informed choices for their pets.”
Read the full BVA position statement on diet choices for cats and dogs.
