I’ve been a vegetarian for more than ten years. It wasn’t for my health, and it certainly wasn’t because I don’t love the taste of a good burger. I made the choice because I wanted my lifestyle to have a smaller impact on the planet.
And yet, twice a day, every single day, I do something that directly contradicts that value: I scoop a cup of meat-based kibble into a bowl for my 50-pound rescue dog, Loki.
To be honest, I hadn’t spent much time wrestling with that contradiction. It was just part of life with a dog. Then, I read a headline that stopped me in my tracks: “People often miscalculate climate choices, a study says. One surprise is owning a dog.”
The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, looked at how people perceive the climate impact of different choices—things like going vegan for a year or switching from a car to public transit. The researchers found that we often overestimate the benefits of smaller actions, like recycling, while vastly underestimating the impact of bigger ones.
And one of the most underestimated actions was “not purchasing or adopting a dog.”
The study’s real goal was to figure out how to better guide people toward high-impact climate actions. But as soon as the article hit the news, that nuance was lost. The internet erupted. On Reddit and other forums, people were furious. The conversation quickly shifted from “here’s some interesting data” to “they’re coming for your pets!”
The lead researcher, Danielle Goldwert, watched the backlash with disappointment. “If I saw a headline that said, ‘Climate scientists want to take your dogs away,’ I would also feel upset,” she said. She was quick to add the most important clarification: “They definitely don’t. You can quote me on that.”
So, no, no one is suggesting we give up our furry family members. But the study did force me to open my eyes to a uncomfortable truth I’d been ignoring. The love I have for my dog comes with a real environmental cost, one I’ve been all too happy to overlook.
It’s a classic example of how easy it is to point to the changes we’ve made while quietly ignoring the compromises we aren’t ready to face. For me, that compromise has a name, a wagging tail, and a very specific appetite for chicken and beef.