Passage 2They’re faithful，friendly and furry—but under their harmless，fluffy exteriors，dogs and cats，the world’s most popular house pets，use up more energy resources in a year than driving a car，a new book says．In their book Time to Eat the D09：The Real Guide to Sustainable Living．New Zealand--based architects Robert and Brenda Vale say keeping a medium-sized dog has the same ecological impact as drivin9 10，000 km(6，213 miles)a year in a 4．6 liter Land Cruiser．“There are no recipes in the book，”Robea Vale said，laughingly，in a telephone interview．“We’re not actually saying it is time to eat the d09．We’re just saying that we need to think a．bout and know the(ecological)impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted．”Constructing and driving the jeep for a year requires 0．41 hectares(ha)of land，while growing and manufacturing a dog’s food takes about 0．84 ha-or l．1 ha in the case of a large dog such as aGerman shepherd．Meat-eating swells the ec0—footprint of canines，and felines are not that much bet．ter，the Vales found．The average cat’s eco-footprint，0．15 ha，weighs in at slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf，but still 10 times a hamster’s 0．0 1 4 ha—which is itself half the eco-cost of running a plasma televi．sion．By comparison，the ecological footprint of an average human in the developing world is 1．8 ha，while people in the developed world take 6 ha．With pets’diets under the control of owners，how can their unsustainable appetites betrimmedConvincing carnivorous cats and dogs to go vegetarian for the sake of the planet is a non-starter，the Vales say．Instead they recommend keepin9“greener”，smaller，and more sustainable pets，such as gold．fish，hamsters，chickens or rabbits．The book’s playful title and serious suggestion that pet animals may be usefully“recycled”．bybeing eaten by their owners or turned into peffood when they die，may not appeal to animal fans．Offputting as the idea may be，the question is valid given the planet’s growing population and finite resources，Robert Vale said．“Issues about sustainability are increasingly becoming things that are going to require us to make choices which are as difficult as eating your d09．It’s not just about changing your lightbulbs or taking a cloth bag to the supermarket．”he said．“It’s about much more challenging and difficult issues，”he added．“0nce you see where(cats and dogs)fit in your over-all balance of things--you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat eater yourself．” An appropriate title for this passage might be“__________”．

A. What Do You Know about Dogs and Cats
B. Cats and Dogs Are Energy consuming Pets
Cats and Dogs Consume More Energy Than Cars
D. Time to Eat the Dog：The Real Guide to Sustainable Living