---
title: "MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH? - IVU - International Vegetarian Union"
description: "MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH?: MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH? Many vegetarians still give their dogs and cats meat and fish, feeling it is unkind to deprive them of their natural food."
url: "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3903-congress-wvc57-souvenir-dogs.html"
date: "2026-11-06T00:18:43+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH?

![MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH?](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/banners/congress-wvc57-souvenir-dogs.png)
 **MUST DOGS HAVE MEAT FOR HEALTH?**

Many vegetarians still give their dogs and cats meat and fish, feeling it is unkind to deprive them of their natural food. In fact tinning horsemeat for that purpose is common. The following from "Death Defeated" by J. M. Peebles, M.D. Ph.D, is therefore of great interest.

"I know a dog twenty years old that is a strict vegetarian. He eat only two meals a day. A friend of mine was also personally acquainted with that dog. He belonged to Senator Palmer.

"Hunters feed their dogs on corn meal and oat meal, and that kind of food. I asked a dog trainer, who kept a large number of dogs, why he fed them on corn meal and oat meal. He answered, 'Because it given them sound wind. If a dog eats meat he has no wind.' Some years ago I had a fine dog that I sent to a dog school to acquire an education. I sent a line to the president of the school, saying that my dog was a vegetarian, and I did not want him to have any meat; that he was to take a term of lessons and learn what a dog ought to know. I got a note in return saying that I need not be afraid that the dog would have meat, for he never gave his dogs meat. Upon inquiring why, I was told that if he fed his dogs on meat he could not teach them anything. Some time ago a dog trainer brought twenty-five dogs to the sanitarium and I asked him what he fed them on. He said corn-meal, oat meal and bread. Said I, 'Don't you give them any meat? ' Never!' 'Why?' I further inquired.' 'Because it makes them savage and cross.' Now is it not strange that the men who rear dogs, which are carnivorous animals, find out that meat is bad for them; while human beings who ought certainly to keep themselves in the highest intellectual and spiritual condition, in the clearest-headed and best physical condition, seemed determined not to realize that meat - animal food - makes them cross and stupid, that they are not well in any way when they use it? Men know this for their dogs, but they have not yet learned it for themselves. And yet they ought to have learned it, because both statistics and experience prove it."

 | A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly.  Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value.  - Hits: 1107    ###  Vegan Recipes   - [![VEGAN STEAMED RICE AND BOILED  KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/th10%20408_98e6a584d5ff2065cda0eb8639c3dcfd.jpg "VEGAN STEAMED RICE AND BOILED  KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/vegan-steamed-rice-and-boiled-king-oyster-mushrooms.html "VEGAN STEAMED RICE AND BOILED  KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS")           ####  [VEGAN STEAMED RICE AND BOILED KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/vegan-steamed-rice-and-boiled-king-oyster-mushrooms.html "VEGAN STEAMED RICE AND BOILED  KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS")            [Breakfast and brunch](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/breakfast-and-brunch.html) [Main course](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/main-course-for-lunch-and-dinner.html) [Rice](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/rice.html) [Vietnam](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/vietnam.html) - [![VEGAN COLORFUL  FRIED CORN KERNELS](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/th10%20233_9275799fa8b2cabc43acc78719ea52f4.jpg "VEGAN COLORFUL  FRIED CORN KERNELS")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/vegan-colorful-fried-corn-kernels.html "VEGAN COLORFUL  FRIED CORN KERNELS")           ####  [VEGAN COLORFUL FRIED CORN KERNELS](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/vegan-colorful-fried-corn-kernels.html "VEGAN COLORFUL  FRIED CORN KERNELS")            [Breakfast and brunch](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/breakfast-and-brunch.html) [Vietnam](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/vietnam.html) - [![Seitan Nyembwe](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/seitan_815539ab22d5e93959d7355da6916bfa.png "Seitan Nyembwe")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/seitan-nyembwe.html "Seitan Nyembwe")           ####  [Seitan Nyembwe](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/seitan-nyembwe.html "Seitan Nyembwe")            [Protein Rich](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/proteiin-rich.html) [Congo](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/congo.html) [Main course](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/main-course-for-lunch-and-dinner.html) [Gabon](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/gabon.html) [African](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/african.html)       ###  VFA Blog   - 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