October seems to be the month of kitties at Tesla Supercharging stations — and kitties being rescued. Just a few days ago, I wrote about the kitties at the Kettleman City Supercharger that were in need of help. Many Tesla owners were trying to help the colony of 60 cats. After that article was published, Frank reached out to me on Twitter and shared the story of another, smaller kitty colony at his local Supercharger.
@JohnnaCrider0 @BLKMDL3 I forgot to show you this. Gustine kitties!! pic.twitter.com/UXYtZX1ZOC
— whatsupfranks (@WhatsupFranks) October 6, 2020
— whatsupfranks (@WhatsupFranks) October 6, 2020
Frank wanted to take the small kitten but noted that these cats were really shy. “Whenever you go up to them, they walk away,” he told me. He said that they hide under an old abandoned RV thing and that someone is feeding them — that there is always food there. He mentioned that he was trying to get help for the kittens and could set up a GoFundMe to raise funds.
Speaking of reducing kittens, remember that little part about rescued kitties in October? The very same day my article about the Kettleman City kitties was published, I had a neighbor rush over with a kitten covered in glue. She was stuck to a glue trap and was possible bait for local dog fighting rings. Sadly, that’s a thing — sometimes people are just cruel. We used an entire jar of peanut butter to get the glue out of her fur (she was spitting up glue) and rushed her to the vet the next day. Peanut is now fine, and in the past two weeks has grown beautifully.
A Quick Note On The Effects Of Pet Ownership On The Environment
I noticed some comments on the Kettleman City kitties article I’ve written — constructive criticism is always a great thing. One commenter mentioned the costs to the environment that owning a pet could have, so I wanted to take a little dive into that and not only create awareness but present research on how pet owners can be more proactive in reducing emissions from owning pets.
In 2017, a geography professor at UCLA, Gregory Okin, wanted to find out how much feeding pets contribute toward climate change. He was inspired by the trends of eating less meat to help reduce the environmental effect of meat production. Okin’s research showed that meat-eating by both dogs and cats create the equivalent of around 64 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. This has the same climate impact as a year’s worth of driving from 13.6 million cars.
“I like dogs and cats, and I’m definitely not recommending that people get rid of their pets or put them on a vegetarian diet, which would be unhealthy,” Okin said. “But I do think we should consider all the impacts that pets have so we can have an honest conversation about them. Pets have many benefits, but also a huge environmental impact.”
How Can We Reduce Our Pet’s Carbon Footprint?
Treehugger had some ideas as to how one can reduce their pet’s carbon footprint. One way is easing up on the kibble. Many pet owners free-feed their pets, which leads to pet obesity.
Instead of giving your pets human-grade meat, give them foods made with organ meat — meat that would have gone to waste in a landfill and created more greenhouse gases. In a New York Times interview, Dr. Cailin Heinze explained that pet food made with organ meat is perfectly fine and noted that the human-grade meat isn’t healthier for pets. “For every cow or pig that we slaughter, there’s a lot of organ meat, so feeding cats and dogs organ meat rather than the same exact muscle meat that humans eat is sustainable because it can help reduce the number of animals we have to raise,” Heinze said.
Another way you can lower your pet’s carbon footprint is to use biodegradable poop bags. You can use these for your dogs or cats — I use them for my cat’s litter waste as well as for trash bags. I get mine from Sprouts. Another way of offsetting your pet’s carbon footprint is to slow down on toys. That’s hard for me — Tesla loves his jingle bell balls, which keeping ending up under the couch. However, if you have a lot of toys, instead of throwing them away, consider cleaning them and donating them to a local animal shelter or rescue group.