Even though many humans have completely deleted animal products from their diets, changing your pets diets based on plant-based meals may land a pet owner in jail or a fine up to $27,000. According to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 – dogs must be fed a “suitable diet” and you could be punished if it is deemed you are doing following the law.
The Blue Cross outlines the legislation that applies to dog owners in Britain and that all pet owners have a legal duty to provide for their welfare needs. Under Section 9, domestic animals have the legal right to live in a suitable environment; eat a suitable diet; exhibit normal behavior patterns; be housed with, or apart from, other animals; be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
The legislation does not specify that vegan or vegetarian diets are to be excluded, however the food must “meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs.” And besides a hefty fine or a jail sentence, a pet owner who does not comply with a dog’s nutritional needs can lose custody of their pooch now and forever.
According to the Mirror, the president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) Daniella Dos Santos, it is theoretically possible to feed a dog a vegetarian diet, but is “much easier to get it wrong than to get it right,” and it would have to be under the supervision of a veterinarian trained nutritionist.
Dog that do not receive the needed amount of protein can have serious health problems including vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as amino acid imbalances.
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My Welsh Corgi was a vegetarian her whole life. At 14 years-of-age my vet gave her a complete work-up. When I returned to pick her up, he said “What have you been doing for your dog? This is the healthiest 14 year-old dog I have ever seen.” I never told him she was a vegetarian because I knew it could be ill-received. She always ate what I ate, which was a healthy vegetarian diet high in protein. She always had an incredible amount of energy (as I do). I don’t know how long she would have lived, since my daughter’s Shepard mix killed her at 16 years-of-age.