Show them larvae

Insects may be better nosh for your pets than prime steak, according to the British Veterinary Association. Owners are being encouraged to consider giving dogs and cats an insectbased diet – with the added bonus that it is also better for the environment.

BVA president Simon Doherty said: “There’s a really exciting future for the use of insect protein to provide some nutrients. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”

Pets are estimated to eat 20 per cent of the world’s meat and fish, according to sustainable and insect- based pet food start- up Yora – appropriately based in Crawley, West Sussex.

Will Bissett, the firm’s head of innovation, explained: “I’m a vegetarian, and before insect dog food came along I had to make a difficult decision between my ethics and the welfare of my animal.

“Insects bridge the gap between meat and vegetarianism.”

While insect-based food tends to be more expensive, it is estimated it uses just two per cent of the land and four per cent of the water for every kilo of protein, compared to meat or fish farming.

If it were to be adopted widely, it could help to cut down on carbon emissions.

Dutch firm Protix claims to have the world’s biggest insect farm, mass-breeding black soldier flies in a building the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Kees Aarts, CEO of Protix, said: “Everywhere, we are heating up the planet and we are eating up everything. We have to start giving something back.

“We have to feed nutritionally, so we need alternatives. Our focus is to lower the footprint and use a fraction of the land that cattle would.”

Ground- up insect larvae are already widely used to feed pigs, fish and chickens.

NUTRITION

Many pet owners worry whether dogs and cats would still get enough energy and nutrition from an insect-based diet.

But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has stated that the nutritional value of insects does not differ from that of other meat sources such as chicken, beef, pork and fish.

As a food source, it says, they are rich in protein, fats, minerals and vitamins. And as well as environmental sustainability, a diet of insects can help cut reliance on fertilisers and pesticides used in producing animal feed – along with the antibiotics and growth hormones given to animals being reared for their meat.