Nutritional and ethical issues regarding vegetarianism in the domestic dog

Many dog owners wish to feed their dogs a vegetarian diet for the same ethical reason that they themselves are vegetarian. To meet this demand, there are an increasing number of vegetarian diets and recipes available for dogs. However, proof for their claims of nutritional adequacy is often lacking. There is little doubt that a dog’s nutritional requirements can be met from a diet that does not contain meat; however, the difference between the amino acid profiles of plant and animal proteins must be considered. It has been shown that exercising dogs may develop anaemia when fed unbalanced plantprotein diets but will remain in good health if the meatfree diet is correctly balanced. Many plant ingredients contain high levels of non-starch polysaccharides and other anti-nutritive factors, which may reduce the availability of some nutrients. A diet devoid of animal ingredients is also likely to be of low palatability to dogs. All diets should be correctly formulated to meet nutrient requirements based on chemical analysis and predicted or measured apparent digestibility, should be sufficiently palatable to ensure adequate dietary intake and should maintain good health when consumed. If a vegetarian diet meets all of these criteria, then it is a suitable diet for the dog, irrespective of the owner’s motivation for feeding a vegetarian diet.