Please Don't Be A "Stupid" Vegan

I love being vegan. I love all of the fresh fruits and veggies that I get to prepare everyday. I love discovering new recipes. I love the physical act of produce shopping. I get a small thrill out of picking out the perfect red pepper. I love the farmer's market.

I almost hate to write this post, as I am sure that there will be someone in the vegan community at large who will want to ostracize me for my opinion on being a vegan pet owner. I DO NOT feed my pets a vegan diet. I DO feed them premium foods that contain all human grade ingredients. I am not claiming to be any kind of vegan guru. I am just a person who loves their animals and does the very best that I can to make sure that they get everything that they need in their diets.


Today at work (my part-time job), a woman brought her dog in. We offered to give her dog a treat, since we bake all-natural dog treats. She looked at me and said, "oh... we're vegan." Since we happen to bake a vegan dog treat, I offered one to her dog. Needless to say, this is not the first time that this has happened.


Thank you for being a member of the vegan community. YOU are a vegan. Your dog is a carnivore. Check the history books. You will never find a vegan dog. They simply don't exist. If your dog is a vegan, you have taken a simple, carnal instinct of the animal away from him. This was your decision, not your dog's.



However, it is possible to feed your dog a healthy meat-alternative diet. Soy, whey, and seitan are great alternatives to actual meat. If you want to feed your dog a vegan diet, you can also use cooked chickpeas, legumes, sweet potatoes, and other veggies to supplement for necessary vitamins. There have been several occasions where we have had people come into the store claiming to feed their dog a vegan diet, and have yet to figure out a healthy protein source. My personal favorite was when we asked a woman what kind of protein she was supplementing into her dog's diet, she literally looked like a deer in the headlights and was speechless.... then actually admitted that she didn't know that her dog needed protein!! How is it possible that you don't know that your dog needs protein??

I'm not saying that you absolutely shouldn't feed your dog a vegan diet... I am saying that you absolutely HAVE to be smart about it. You have to be able to know and do what is best for them.