Bugs on the pet food menu

Insects could be a sustainable secret ingredient for the booming pet food industry. Manufacturers such as Mars and Nestlé are developing new insect-based alternatives for dogs and cats to offset the environmental impact of global meat consumption. According to a Petco survey, 55 percent of consumers like the idea of using sustainable alternative protein ingredients in pet food. Whether insect-based food provides pets with their necessary nutritional requirements remains to be seen. Read more

Retired racehorses help veterans with PTSD

Retraining retired racehorses is helping veterans in Ipswich cope with PTSD and integrate back into life after service. Where traditional “equine therapy” uses well-adjusted horses to help people, the veterans program uses traumatised thoroughbreds, so that the healing works both ways. Both groups are taught to overcome anxiety and fear, and learn to trust and communicate with each other. Read more

Toilet training cows for climate change

A new initiative in the livestock sector has cows heading off to cubicles to wee in private, in a bid to reduce their impacts on climate change. Researchers are hoping to redirect thousands of litres of urine by toilet training cattle to use specially-made ‘MooLoos’. They say encouraging cattle to urinate in a particular area will improve the health of farm waterways and soil and, most importantly, reduce the amount of nitrous oxide produced by cattle, as it is a significant greenhouse gas. Read more