Woman accused of 'animal cruelty' for putting her Siberian husky on vegetarian diet

A woman has been accused of animal cruelty for putting her husky on a vegetarian diet.

Lucy Carrington chose to put her white Siberian husky Storm on a vegetarian diet despite not being vegetarian or vegan herself.

It all started over the hot summer months, when Storm went off her meat-based food, so Lucy decided she'd start to try to feed her vegetables instead.

The mum-of-three claimed that the vegetarian diet 'perks [Storm] up', and that Storm 'really took to it'.

However, this claim was falsified when the mother appeared on breakfast television programme This Morning, and the presenter Eamonn Holmes decided to test whether the claim was valid.

The presenter asked two of his studio assistants to bring in two bowls of food for the dog - one full of vegetables like carrots and peas, and one full of meat.

Storm was then left to go and eat whichever bowl she preferred. Without skipping a beat, the husky dived into the meat bowl.

In the clip, Ms Carrington comments:

Oh you little... I didn't swear. In fairness the weather has cooled down quite dramatically.

Many people were quick to criticise Ms Carrington on social media, with some expressing outrage at what they saw as 'animal cruelty'.

Others were shocked and confused by the fact that the owner eats meat, however she doesn't allow her dog to do the same.

And some were simply shocked by the fact that she even considered it a good idea to feed her dog on vegetables alone.

Speaking to This Morning, Ms Carrington said:

During the summer months she just went off her food, strangely.

I'm certainly not one of those, I'm not vegetarian I'm not a vegan, far from it, though I've reduced my meat consumption. 

She continued:

I wouldn't want to impose it on anybody because my mother-in-law and father-in-law are vegetarians and we often had many debates. I've got a large family, they're all boys. We're doing burgers and sausages every night.

After the experiment, veterinarian Scott Miller explained that dogs are omnivores, and to stay healthy they need a mixture of meat and vegetables in their diet. He also added that by only letting the dog eat vegetables, Ms Carrington was removing her dog's natural ability to choose what she wanted to eat.

The Daily Mail reports he said:

People make this decision for all sorts of reasons; people are making it for cultural reasons, for religious ones, for reasons of animal welfare, but the point is it's a choice and our pets can't make that choice so it's something we have to be exceptionally careful about.

They can't make the choice so we need to do look at the natural history which dictates that dogs are omnivores they eat a mixture of meat and plant in order to get all the essential minerals and vitamins they need.

After listening to the veterinarian's advice, Ms Carrington admitted that she would consider putting Storm back on a carnivorous diet.

Before leaving the television show, she said:

If this is what she wants then obviously I’m going to adapt accordingly.

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