We are on the cusp of witnessing an entirely new way of feeding our dogs and possibly our planet too with developments that have unfolded in the vegan dog food space.
Firstly, Hownd ethical dog food company has sold outright this week to a multimillion pet food producer Pet's Choice. They bought Vet's Kitchen in May which is a meat-based dog food company started by Dr Joe Inglis, with plans to expand production along with the other companies in their portfolio such as Felight, Bob Martin and Tastybone.
It is tinged with bittersweet sadness for me as a vegan vet with my admiration for Hownd's original founder Jo and all that she achieved with her ethical products and being able to work so closely together on our cause; but knowing that the production is now being taken over by a much bigger company that can really scale up production of the Hownd tinned and dry dog foods and increase the market to make hopefully more people aware of the massive benefits of plant-based dog food, is an enormous bonus.
A win-win for the future health of our dogs, and the number of animals that will be saved with every tin or bag of Hownd food sold! I have every admiration in what Jo has built and we will stay in close contact.
Your views in response to this month's news -
Cathy in response to the Hownd takeover-
"I can understand that it must be extremely difficult for small ethical companies to compete for customers when faced with huge companies with much greater buying power but unfortunately Pets Choice own several meat based brands. We’ve been subscribing to Hownd tins to offer our dogs variety alongside home cooked food.
I haven't been doing as much home cooking for the simple reason that the girls seem to prefer Give A Dog A Bean!! and of course they love dried Solo Vegetal. I've decided to stop my subscription for Hownd since it'll no longer be owned by Jo, I'd prefer to buy tinned Solo Vegetal and Give A Dog A Bean from you."
What else happened recently that will truly disrupt the dog food meat-based market forever?
London-based cultivated meat company Meatly is now allowed to sell cultivated chicken meat for dogs, marking the world’s first for pet food. UK regulators gave the green light to the startup business following the decision by Defra and the Animal & Plant Health Agency on July 2. This is the first time a cultivated pet food product is cleared for sale anywhere in the world!
What is cultivated chicken meat?
Cultivated chicken is made by taking a small sample from a chicken egg, cultivating it with vitamins and amino acids in a lab, then growing cells in a container similar to those in which beer is fermented. The result is a paté-like paste. This is going to be used by Meatly to be made into a dog food that will be available at Pets At Home later this year! It will then be mixed with plant-based proteins and nutrients to ensure a balance just as happens with pure plant-based dog food.
Why is cultured meat dog food so significant?
What is undisputed is that meat is the most carbon-intensive food group on earth, making up 60% of the food system’s emissions (twice more than what’s generated by plant-based foods), and one study from October 2023 suggests that 20% of all meat produced is used for pet food.
In the UK, pets eat more per year than the entire population under 18, and Labradors – currently the most popular pet dogs in the country – consume 70 million kg of meat annually, nearly 60% more than their owners (shocking statistics!)
There will be demand for cultivated pet food, as animal lovers face a dilemma about feeding their pets meat from slaughtered livestock as shown in this article from The Guardian with quotes from Dr Arielle. (The image below is the day in 2022 when Dr Arielle and Ruff featured on centre page of The Guardian in passionate support of vegan dog food!) Read the full article in The Guardian here.
What of the health benefits to dogs eating cultivated chicken?
In order to be allowed to sell the cultivated chicken protein; Meatly have followed extensive testing to demonstrate that cultivated chicken is safe and healthy for pets, and contains no GMOs, antibiotics, harmful pathogens, heavy metals and other impurities.
This is a reminder of these potentially harmful additions that are present in normal meat-based dog food and the fact that there is no concern now with lab-grown meat makes it far more valuable for the health of our dogs in the UK.
We know at Just Be Kind that our complete plant-based dog foods are the answer (see excerpt below) with pure proteins from a complete source, but vegan dog food is still such a tiny sector of a market dominated by meat-based corporate companies. Read here about how very big they have become that Mars Petcare now owns not only Royal Canin, but also thousands of vet practices in the UK!
To have the pet food market disrupted by cultivated meat dog food can only be a good thing as it exposes the dangers of the continued use of feeding our dogs such high meat-based diets for their health, our biodiversity, and our planet's health!
What about the market in the US?
Just as companies have to pass the safety requirements as Meatly have done in the UK, so too do companies abroad have to pass their safety tests. There are states in the US where governing bodies feel that the cultivated meat market is such a threat to their livestock farming that they have banned it!
Dr Sarah Dodd, a leading vegan veterinary nutritionist, is working with cultivated chicken company Further Foods to ensure certain feeding trials meet the strict FDA requirements that they have in America.
Also announced this week, studies will begin there on thirty healthy adult dogs of various breeds and ages to ensure the safety and efficacy of cultivated chicken for dogs.
Dr. Sarah Dodd commented, “Cultivated meat is an area I am personally exceptionally excited about, for both its nutritional potential for animals and its positive impact on the environment. I look forward to navigating the regulatory pathways and feeding trial requirements with the FDA and advancing this first-of-its-kind trial forward.”
Please note that as a vegan vet, I would NOT sell any cultivated meat products in Just Be Kind or feed them to our dog Ruff, as like so many of your dogs, he absolutely loves his complete pure plant-based dog foods. I am also blown away daily by the health impact I am seeing as a vet when you feed your dog a nutritionally balanced plant-based diet that is fully cruelty free and free from all hormones, accumulated heavy metals, GMO foods and antibiotics! Everything about it is right.
Your views in response to this month's news -
"Hi Arielle
I will stick with your dog food, and similar, thank you! I am very shy of this “disruptive“ parlance, at least one of the faces behind it is a silicon valley engineer and another is a London financier. I think their motive is money and control of large swathes of the future food industry by way of patent law, rather than animal welfare, similar to the seed and computer software industries with a a few big hitters taking the market away from everyone else.
Also, food for humans and animals should not be taken from mother nature.
Best wishes Simon"
