Just like human beings can choose their diet and go vegan if they want, you should have the freedom to choose what your pet animals eat.
If there’s a doubt, pet owners often seek advice from vets and animal food experts to ensure a healthy and happy life for dogs and other animals.
But that may not be the case in the UK. A dog owner in that country may not have the liberty of choosing a meat-free diet for a pet any longer.
UK pet owners have been warned not to enforce a vegetarian diet on their dogs. Else, it could result in penalties or jail time for the pet owners.
The Animal Welfare Act of UK says that people must ensure a ‘suitable diet’ which meets nutritional needs of animals. However, there is no specific mention about the type of diet in the 2006 legislation.
British Veterinarian Association’s Daniella Dos Santos doesn’t advocate a veg-only diet for pets.
“If your personal belief system means you don’t want to eat any animal protein, that’s fine. But that diet is not designed to meet the welfare standards of your pet,” she said.
“It is theoretically possible to feed a dog a vegetarian diet, but it’s much easier to get it wrong than to get it right,” she added.