Can we afford to continue to keep pets — environmentally and financially?

Future Tense

If we're genuinely concerned about the impact livestock can have on our environment, why aren't we equally worried about pets? The pet industry is booming and despite the many positive psychological and emotional benefits of pet ownership, concerns about global pet numbers and environmental sustainability are mounting. So, do we need to rethink how we live with domesticated animals? And how can we strike a balance between our seemingly insatiable desire for fur-babies and their subsequent impact on the natural world and our hip pocket?

Guests

Dr Jen Gale – Veterinarian and Director of Vet Sustain (UK)

Dr Emily Hemendinger – Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado

Dr Andrea Laurent Simpson – Research Assistant Professor, Southern Methodist University; Author of Just Like Family: How Companion Animals Joined the Household

Dr Andrew Rowan – founder of the Tufts Centre for Animals and Public Policy; President, Wellbeing International

Dr Belinda Jane Dunstan – Principal Lead, Creative Robotics Lab, University of New South Wales