Anyone who has taken on the task of caring for a dog naturally wants to do it as well as possible. You want your dog to lack nothing. In addition, the choice of food has an effect on the environment and on the lives of other animals. So here are the five benefits of vegan dog food. Would you like to try a Vegan Sample Pack? Click here

1. Saves hundreds, sometimes thousands of animal lives

Dogs eat a lot of dog food throughout their lives. How many kibble does a dog eat on average?

• Medium-sized dog Beagle, can get rid of 1000 kilos of kibble during his life.
• Large dog such as a Rottweiler, can be as much as 2500 pounds.

 Most dogs eat meat-based foods, so a Beagle that eats a kibble with an average meat percentage of 35% may eat as many as 500 chickens in its lifetime. For a Rottweiler there are even 1250! [source: Dog.Eat.Plant, 2020]. Dogs that eat plant-based foods therefore save a lot of animal life.  

“A medium-sized dog saves an average of 500 chickens in its life by eating plant-based foods.
A large dog saves an average of 1250 chickens! ”

2. Better for the environment

One of the most important steps in fighting climate change is a shift to a plant-based diet. Animal products have a much greater impact on the environment than vegetable products. Large numbers of scientists write in various reports from the United Nations and the World Resource Institute, among others, that a shift to a plant-based diet is necessary in the fight against global warming [source: https://research.wri.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/WRR_Food_Full_Report_0.pdf en https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019].

The menu of most dogs consists proportionally more animal products than that of humans. As a result, a dog the size of a Beagle eats as much meat as the average Dutch person. Vegan dog food reduces the ecological footprint of our four-legged friend, because the impact of plant products is much smaller. Vegan dog food is therefore good for the environment [source: Dog.Eat.Plant, 2020].

3. No toxic substances

Animals in the factory farm are fed hormones and antibiotics to grow faster and to protect them against all kinds of diseases. The use of antibiotics is problematic because it makes bacteria resistant. This means that if dogs (and humans) get sick from bacteria, antibiotics will no longer help. In addition, the meat used for animal nutrition is mixed with other - sometimes contaminated - products that are not considered suitable for human consumption. Think, for example, of hides, hooves, horns, feathers, hair, but also food scraps and kitchen waste. The latter can be, for example, old restaurant fat with high concentrations of dangerous free radicals, trans fatty acids, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), heavy metals and other toxins that can end up in animal feed [source: Dog.Eat.Plant, 2020].

Veterinarian Dr. Andrew Knight has spent more than a decade as a practicing veterinarian examining and treating many thousands of animals and has come to believe that diseases such as cancer, kidney and liver disease are much higher than would naturally occur in meat-fed dogs. [source: http://petfoodinnovation.info/summary/]. These types of substances are not found in vegetable animal feed justly[MS1] .

4. It's healthy

Vegan dog food contains all the nutrients a dog needs to live a long and healthy life. FEDIAF is the European trade association that has drawn up a guideline with minimum and sometimes maximum amounts for the nutrients that dog food must contain. This list has been drawn up by a group of scientists and is regularly updated. It contains an overview of nutrients and not from ingredients. So it doesn't matter where the nutrients come from, as long as they are in it. That means that it is not necessary for dog food to contain meat. All nutrients that a dog needs can also be obtained via a vegetable route. To be able to call a diet complete, the diet must meet the amounts stated in the FEDIAF guidelines. The complete foods that VegaVriend sells meet this requirement, and therefore contain all the nutrients dogs need to lead a long and healthy life [FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs: https://fediaf.org/images/FEDIAF_Nutritional_Guidelines_2020_20200917.pdf].

5. Vegan dog food is tasty!

The persistent idea that dogs are carnivores and meat is their favorite food has already been overturned by so many dogs. Dogs eat everything and all have their own preferences. One dog is very picky, the other not at all. Some dogs love apple chunks, others don't. Find out what your dog likes. There are now so many types of vegan dog food that there is always something to your dog's taste. There are also many types of snacks. There is something for every dog. Do you have a really fussy eater? Then try the recipes from Dog.Eat.Plant.! Dogs can really appreciate freshly made food and with the help of a supplement it is easy to turn it into a full-fledged feast. So many dogs have gone before, read here the experiences of others.

Find out what your dog likes and order a starter pack.