Freegan Dogs Will Save The World.

“Making dogs vegan is cruel, and vegan pet owners shouldn’t force their lifestyle choices on their pets.”

Whether or not you agree with the above statement, we have a solution to the dilemma of…

“What should you feed your dogs”?

Enter ‘Freeganism’. A lifestyle whereby individuals can consume ethically by limiting their participation in the consumption of resources overall.

Freeganism is the act of purchasing vegan-only (which still causes some amount of suffering) and also salvaging all kinds of food from being wasted, thus reducing their need to purchase new food. One example is ‘dumpster diving’, in which unspoiled food is saved out of the garbage.

Our dogs are almost entirely freegan, eating a plant-based diet supported with free nutrition which would be otherwise wasted.

“But aren’t dogs carnivores?”, you may ask…

Nope, not really.

Dogs, like humans are omnivores and like humans, do not have an absolute nutritional requirement for animal based ingredients in their diets. As scavengers, who lived around humans, dogs evolved to eat human leftovers — slowly changing them from mostly carnivorous wild dogs into omnivorous domesticated dogs.

Which means, they can consume, digest and survive on both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Bananas, apples, carrots, and papayas are known favorites of many dogs!

What does that mean for our dogs in practice?

Here’s the nutritious diet — which you may want to consider trying for your dogs — which keeps our dog healthy and well fed, and helps them recover from injury or sickness.

Rice and Dal (lentil soup) are the base of the meal.

Seasonal veggies are vital. Carrots, pumpkin, spinach, peas, and bottle gourd are a few vegetables we add in rotation to their food, depending on the season.

You should avoid certain fruits and vegetables like bitter gourd, potatoes, grapes, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and a few others. There are some fruits and vegetables which can prove to be toxic for a canine, so making sure you do your research on what is safe for dogs to eat!

Mutton: Our local butcher is kind enough to donate all the leftover bones which don’t make it to human dinner plates. These are boiled to make soup, along with tiny pieces of flesh still stuck to them.

The bones are removed (as cooked bones can be very dangerous for dogs) and burnt to make bone char, which is used as fertilizer for the farm.

Eggshell powder: Our local fried-egg street vendor saves his shells for us, which we wash, boil, dry, and grind into palatable powder.

The only thing in our doggie-diet which is not freegan, is milk.

Milk: Milk is purchased locally and given to the weakest dogs and the young puppies (below 2 months).

Our dogs get fed thrice a day…

7:30am

The morning meal, happens to be the most nutritious meal for our dogs.

It consists of:

• Base diet with Rice and Dal mixed with veggies
• Flax meal
• Flax oil
• A pinch of Spirulina
• A pinch of Ginger powder (good for the stomach)
• A pinch of Turmeric powder (good for the skin)
• Egg shell powder

12:30pm

SNACK TIME!

• A banana or chapati
• Weaker dogs and the puppies get a full meal of chapati with rice and dal.

6:30pm

The most looked forward to meal by all our dogs, sponsored by our local butcher.

• Base diet with Rice, dal and veggies
• Mutton soup. Yum!

These guys seem pretty happy and healthy to us-not to mention, ‘into’ their meals. This freegan diet has helped us heal the rescue cases that we receive on the farm.

Considering going freegan for your dog OR have similar freegan dog recipes that you may want to share? We’d love to hear about them! Leave a comment below.