Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid and Adil Ray clashed with an environmental campaigner claiming families need to get rid of pets to save the planet.
Donnachadh McCarthy appeared on today’s episode for a discussion on family pets – following study suggestions that a dog’s CO2 emissions is equivalent to two cars.
Declaring them ‘convenient and nice to have’, McCarthy said that pets shouldn’t be considered family members and hide an ‘ocean of cruelty’.
‘People love their pets like members of their family,’ Susanna said. ‘We’re a drain on resources as well. So, this has implications for everyone, doesn’t it?’
‘It’s about love, isn’t it? Behind that loving cat or dog that we have, there’s a whole ocean of cruelty, whether the destruction of rain forests for the meat, the destruction of the seas for the fish to feed our cats,’ he responded. ‘The real problem is the numbers.’
Susanna continued: ‘My point is you could be talking about human beings as well. I mean, it’s one thing to give up your car, but you’re not going to give up a loved member of your family, which frankly is what people consider cats and dogs.’
McCarthy said that pets shouldn’t be seen as family (Picture: ITV)
‘If we love our members of our family, we love our kids, do you not accept that we have to look after the climate crisis?’ McCarthy asked.
‘Firstly I want to look after my kids and my pets,’ she said.
‘Well that’s shocking. Do you understand the level of prices and the carbon emissions are currently in the planet?’
Susanna and Adil disagreed about his points (Picture: ITV)
Adil later suggested that adopting animals from shelters could be a way around it, but again McCarthy disagreed.
At this point Adil questioned why as the animals ‘already existed’ by that point.
Lorraine Kelly later joined the debate, and told Susanna and Adil that she would never give up her beloved dog Angus.
Guest Keith Lemon was also against it, and said: ‘It’s your baby isn’t it? It’s your furry baby.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
Credit: Original article published here.The post Susanna Reid clashes with campaigner who suggests people ‘get rid of pets to save environment’ appeared on My Celebrity Life.