Well, it’s happened. While humans in Europe are still waiting for the green light on cultivated meat, their four-legged companions just got first dibs.
The UK has officially become the first in the world to sell lab-grown meat for pets, thanks to London-based startup Meatly and its new dog treat, “Chick Bites.”
Source: Meatly Petfood Packs
And guess what? It’s already flying off the shelves, if that’s even the right phrase for something that's never been a part of a live animal.
Here’s the deal: this isn't just another bougie pet snack for pampered pooches. It’s real chicken, sort of. Scientists took a handful of cells from a chicken egg, grew them in a lab, and voilà - meat, minus the actual bird. The result? A treat packed with the same amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals as regular chicken, but without the slaughter, antibiotics, or environmental guilt trip.
Source: Meatly - Dachshund licking lips!!
And the UK media? Losing its mind. From the Daily Mail's inevitable "Would YOU Feed Your Dog Lab-Grown Meat?" to The Guardian’s more measured coverage, cultivated pet food has certainly grabbed headlines.
The tech nerds are calling it a sustainability breakthrough, the ethical crowd is thrilled about cruelty-free meat, and pet owners? Well, they’re mostly wondering whether their dogs will actually eat it.
Of course, this is just the beginning. Meatly plans to scale up production, making cultivated meat more widely available for pets over the next few years. And if all goes well, maybe, just maybe, humans in the UK might get a taste of this brave new world of food, too.
But for now, the dogs are winning this one.
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