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From: Poodle Lady (209-165-2.150.lightspeed.net)
In Reply to: Thinking about our dog becoming a Vegetarian or Vegan posted by HeatherinWashingtonState on December 13, 2004 at 3:19 pm:
I am a vegetarian, and have been now for more than 16 years. As a human being, with an omnivorous digestive system, I have that option. Dogs are carnivores, pure and simple. They are not, as the vegetarian dog food companies would have you believe, "omnivores." They were designed by nature to derive their nutrition from the bodies of other animals. That's just plain fact. As a vegetarian, I have compassion for all life: herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous. I believe STRONGLY that it would be very wrong for me to try to force my ethical stance on an animal that is not physically or morally disposed to choose it for him or herself. By trying to make your dog into an herbivore, you are trying to make him over in your own image...and that shows precious little regard for what your dog truly is. Take a look at his teeth...study the way his digestive system works...then ask yourself if it's really morally acceptable to make him into something nature never intended him to be in order to make YOU feel better. Vegetarian diets are not healthy for dogs. Homemade ones inevitably result in nutritional deficiencies, and the marketed ones are no healthier for dogs than vitamin-laced potato chips would be as a steady diet for humans. If you're going to choose to keep a carnivorous companion animal, it is incumbent on you, as an animal lover, to feed him in the manner that is most health sustaining...and no vegetarian diet fills that bill. Talk to your vet and give your dog the food your vet recommends.
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