Prof Andrew Knight further groundbreaking studies!
You have to have done something extra special to have your photo taken outside 10 Downing Street - not anybody is allowed to stand there unless they have completed something very important, and Prof Knight has done just that!
In October 2023, he published a pet industry disrupting paper that showed that if all the world's dogs went vegan, it could quite literally save our planet due to the environmental impact that it would have.
In September 2024, he published a groundbreaking study that shows how a vegan diet fed to dogs over a year had significant health benefits compared to dogs fed a raw or a meat-based 'conventional' dog food diet.
He is showing the publication of his latest book in the photo above that is entitled The Environmental Benefits Of Vegan Pet Food. Thank goodness we have such a dedicated and passionate researcher, vet and wonderful person as Prof Andrew Knight in this space!! (his very humble reply to being acknowledged like this and being 'famous' enough to be photographed outside 10 Downing Street was "I at least got to meet the most important 'person' living at 10 Downing Street - Larry the cat!!")
What is the importance of his latest published study in May 2025?
Prof Knight's latest study published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems has concluded that feeding pets a nutritionally sound vegan diet is a “significant climate change mitigation strategy which warrants immediate implementation”. This study notes the need for governments and the media to raise awareness immediately of the benefits of plant-based pet foods.
In wealthy countries with high rates of pet ownership, the benefits of shifting dogs away from meat-based diets are said to be equivalent to between a quarter and a third of the environmental benefits achievable through human dietary change - incredible statistics backed by robust scientific evidence!
The role of animal byproducts
Prof Knight's latest research disputes the idea that pet food has a low impact because it is mainly made from animal byproducts (a claim used heavily by the large corporate meat-based pet food companies that say using the byproducts of the meat industry is sustainable as they would otherwise go to landfill).
This study for the very first time claims that just 25% of animal byproducts are used in pet food, and the sector competes with big pharma and even biofuel to access these ingredients as every part of an animal has a financial value and will never be wasted. Moreover, the sale of byproducts is said to significantly boost the profits of the meat industry — for example, 11.4% of the gross income from beef reportedly originates from byproducts!
This contradicts the idea that animal byproducts would be wasted if not used in meat-based pet food, and demonstrates how these ingredients help to fund an unsustainable industry.
Furthermore, the authors of this study (Prof Andrew Knight and Billy Nicholles from Bryant research) show that byproducts are less efficient than human-grade meat, since they only make up a minority of the carcasses used for pet food. This means more carcasses are needed, and therefore more animals must be raised and slaughtered - something never ever mentioned before!
Each dairy cow for example has only 2 kidneys, and when sent to slaughter at the end of her milking cycle, there is enormous value in these 2 kidneys that may be used in only a few cans of pet food compared to the rest of her meat that is used in a number of dishes which gives even more value to those 2 kidneys so more animals are slaughtered (and yes the use of a dairy cow in this example reminds us that the dairy industry IS the meat industry!)
Thank goodness for kind and nutritionally sound vegan pet food!
When we read these statistics and hidden truths about the meat and dairy industry from scientific professionals such as Prof Andrew Knight; it highlights the value of feeding your dogs and cats foods that are ethically and sustainably sourced with pure natural plant-based ingredients to protect not only the health of our planet, but also the health of our dogs and cats.
Read about toxic elements found in meat and fish-based pet foods using these animal 'byproducts' that are essentially excretory organs in an animal functioning to remove toxins from that production animal's body - we absolutely DO NOT want to feed these byproducts to our dogs and cats!
Prof Knight highlights bacterial fermentation as the future for pet food!
In his published latest study May 2025, Prof Andrew Knight highlights the need to focus on using alternative protein sources in dog and cat food, especially that derived from highly sustainable biomass bacterial fermentation.
We are thrilled that he mentions this as we absolutely agree. Not only is this new new revolutionary biotic protein source the solution for our planetary health; but it is also a highly nutritious form of protein in our dogs that actively feeds their gut microbiome....and it tastes delicious!!
Read more about groundbreaking biotic protein dog food Microbell here
