The Climate Impact of Owning a Dog

This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade. It’s not because of my health, or because I dislike the taste of chicken or beef: It’s a lifestyle choice I made because I wanted to reduce my impact on the planet. And yet, twice a day, every day, I lovingly scoop a cup of meat-based kibble into a bowl and set it down for my 50-pound rescue dog, a husky mix named Loki.

Until recently, I hadn’t devoted a huge amount of…