Is 2025 The Year Of Ethical Dog Food?

Interest in plant-based dog food has been growing for years as the ethical and environmental impact of feeding other animals to dogs has come under increased scrutiny.

If you want to put your dog on a plant-based diet, it’s now easier than ever. There are at least a dozen nutritious plant-based dog food brands to choose from, available online and in stores. Many also make plant-based treats. There are even cultivated chicken dog treats now on sale in the UK for the first time.

“There has been a huge interest in vegan and sustainable pet diets recently,” Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare Andrew Knight tells Plant Based News. “Many pet guardians and pet care industry professionals are learning that nutritionally sound vegan commercial pet foods now exist, and that these can offer significant benefits for pet health and environmental sustainability.”

Has this momentum now gathered enough pace that 2025 could become the year ethical dog food goes mainstream?

A growing industry

With the growth in veganism among humans over the past few years, it’s not surprising that more people have become conflicted about feeding traditional meat to their companion animals. According to Statista, in 2019 around 10.4 percent of animal guardians surveyed worldwide were feeding their dogs a plant-based diet some of time.

Again in 2019, one study of Canadian dog and cat guardians found that 35 percent would consider feeding a plant-based diet to their animals. Of guardians who were themselves vegan (who accounted for six percent of survey respondents), 27 percent had already cut meat out of their animals’ diets.

A 2022 report by the Vegan Society found that, in the UK, just under a quarter of dog guardians said they had bought vegan dog food in the past. Additionally, 45 percent said they were interested in vegan food for their dog. Of those, 32 percent said they would be interested in it if it was healthy. Being cost comparative to meat-based food was also of concern to 13 percent of respondents.

The vegan dog food market is expected to keep growing. According to analysis by Data Bridge Market Research, its value will rise to $31.48 billion by 2029, up from from $12.27 billion in 2021. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5 percent.

More investment

A plant-based dog holding a food bowl — Adobe Stock Dogs can be happy and healthy on a plant-based diet

Vegan dog food brands have been raking in significant investment over the past few years. UK brand Omni appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den on February 6, where it secured a £75k investment. The success came a year after OMNI hit its £400,000 crowdfunding target within 15 minutes.

In 2023, Good Dog Food, a cultivated pet food company that launched in 2022, raised £3.6 million in a seed funding round. German-made VEGDOG netted an investment of about €3.5 million in late 2022. It said it would use the funds to expand into new markets and boost production.

In addition, established meat-based dog food brands including Lily’s Kitchen and Pets at Home own-brand Wainwright’s have added plant-based lines. This indicates that mainstream dog food brands are investing in developing new plant-based products.

Healthy vegan dogs

A growing body of research shows that dogs can be perfectly healthy on an appropriate vegan diet. In the face of this evidence, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) finally acknowledged in 2024 that it is “possible” to feed a dog a “nutritionally sound” plant-based diet. Knight’s website on the subject of plant-based diets for companion animals also stresses the importance of choosing food that meets dogs’ nutritional needs. It advises guardians to check product labels carefully, and make sure brands are working with vets or animal nutrition experts. As dogs are omnivores, getting all the nutrients they need is what matters rather than getting them from specific sources, such as meat.

Multiple studies have found that plant-based diets can have health benefits for dogs. These studies included both clinical studies and large-scale guardian surveys. Among them was a 2022 study of 2,536 dogs fed vegan or meat-based diets for at least a year, led by Knight. Dogs on vegan diets had good health outcomes, as reported by guardians.

The study did not control for demographic variables like the age and exercise levels of the dogs. So Knight led a follow-up study published in 2024. After controlling for many factors relevant to the health of the dogs, it found that dogs fed vegan diets still had good health overall. They were less likely to need medication or to visit the vet very often.

The study of Canadian dog and cat guardians “even showed that dogs live 1.5 years longer on average – equivalent to around 10 extra years, for a human!” says Knight.

A systematic literature review was also published in 2023. It found “no convincing evidence of major impacts of vegan diets on dog or cat health.” It cautioned that guardian surveys could include “subjectivity around the outcomes.” But the findings for the benefits of vegan dog diets “were relatively consistent across several studies and should, therefore, not be disregarded.”

Environmental benefits

Feeding meat to companion animals has significant environmental impacts. In the US alone, cats and dogs account for a third of the meat consumption. This makes them responsible for up to 80 million tonnes of emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in the US.

“The sustainability benefits of nutritionally sound vegan pet diets are game-changingly large,” says Knight. Another of his studied shows that if all dogs went vegan, it would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by more than that emitted by the whole of the UK. It would spare an amount of land the size of Saudi Arabia or Mexico. Such a change would also save as much freshwater as that used by all of Denmark. Vegan diets for dogs would also spare 1.7 billion land animals from slaughter every year.

A separate study assessed the lifecycle of vegan dog food. Compared to meat-based dog food, a can of vegan dog food has 37 percent lower emissions. It uses 97 percent less land, and reduces eutrophication by 300 percent.

Cultivated meat

The Pack/Meatly cultivated dog treats — Meatly The Pack cultivated chicken dog treats on sale at Pets at Home

Where does cultivated meat for companion animals fit into this picture? In the UK, it gained regulatory approval in 2024. The cultivated dog treats available at Pets at Home, made by cultivated meat company Meatly in partnership with vegan dog food company The Pack, are the first such product on sale in the world. It’s likely to become more readily available in future, including as part of complete food for dogs and cats.

Cultivated meat is made using animal cells taken from a living animal, egg, feather, or similar. The cells are put in bioreactors with a solution containing nutrients like amino acids, sugars, and vitamins. Over time, the cells multiply and turn into muscle tissue, which can be harvested and processed into a meat product. As cultivated meat is real meat, and often requires the use of an animal and animal products in its production, it is not considered vegan. But many vegans support it as a possible route out of traditional animal agriculture. The Meatly/The Pack treats were made with cells extracted from a single chicken egg.

The environmental impact of animal agriculture is the reason that many hope cultivated meat will replace conventional meat for both humans and companion animals. Life-cycle assessments have shown it could reduce agricultural land use by between 64 and 90 percent. It also leads to fewer emissions and causes less water pollution than conventional meat.

Social acceptance

Barriers remain to the wider acceptance of alternative diets for dogs. The Vegan Society’s 2022 report found that 32 percent of people with dogs surveyed did not think it’s right to feed companion animals vegan food. Three quarters of those people said they believed dogs need meat to survive. Just under 15 percent said that dogs are carnivores. However, the report found that there are many factors that could make people more amenable to the idea of feeding their dogs vegan food. Once these were considered, the number who said they would never buy vegan dog food dropped to 14 percent.

“Many remain unaware of the recent developments [in plant-based dog food],” says Knight. “There remains a huge need to educate pet guardians and the pet care industry about the recent paradigm-shifting developments in this field.”