Why Anthony Albanese is being urged to get rid of his beloved dog Toto NOW: 'Awful'
A US-based study, published in June, said that not owning a dog was something normal people could do with the highest levels of carbon emissions reduction.
Taking one fewer flight or eating lower-carbon meats were also effective behaviours identified by the PNAS Nexus report.
The finding was leapt on by The Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Blair who suggested Anthony Albanese should give up his beloved cavoodle Toto if he is calling for climate action.
'It's time for Albo to turn Toto over to the authorities, because it turns out that little cavoodle of his is an awful climate criminal,' Blair wrote on Monday.
'Cavoodle Toto may be way smaller than other 'oodle' varieties, such as the Bernese Mountain doodle, the Irish wolfhoodle and the fearsome pit boodle, but she's got one hell of a carbon pawprint.
'That's because Toto occasionally rides on Prime Ministerial flights.
'She's probably racked up more air time than any dog since Snoopy took on the Red Baron.'
Blair quipped that 'it should be curtains for the PM's companion critter' in order to help nature balance itself.
Toto is regularly photographed with Albanese, including on election day, and has her own X account. The Age even has an article page dedicated to Australia's first dog.
Blair also took the opportunity to take aim at Australian billionaire and climate change warrior Mike Cannon-Brookes for buying a private jet earlier this year.
The co-founder of software company Atlassian opened up about his challenging decision to purchase the multimillion-dollar Bombardier 7500 jet in March.
'I'm not denying I have a deep internal conflict on this,' the tech entrepreneur told his followers on LinkedIn.
'Personal security is the primary reason (an unfortunate reality of my world), but also so I can run a global business from Australia, and still be a constantly present dad.
'So, this is a hard, continual trade-off I've decided to make.'
Blair said the declaration was his favourite example of 'self-appointed saviours (who) aren't hurting at all'.
'Modern parenting is full of tough decisions. Sometimes your average Aussie dad just has to bite the bullet and buy a $120million private aircraft,' the columnist said.
'All members of our saintly climate community are little Cannon-Brookeses, in their own ways.
'If they do give up anything, it's only in ways that won't cause any pain.'
Blair joined 2GB on Wednesday to maintain that he remains in the 'pro-dog camp'.
'It's just that I am also not a climate hypocrite who carries on about everyone else surrendering their beloved things and then running a big climate-hating dog in the household.'
It's not the first time Toto's jet-setting lifestyle has come under scrutiny.
Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie grilled Air Force Chief Robert Chipman at an intense Senate hearing in 2023 about Toto's travels after it was revealed she had likely been travelling on VIP flights with the Prime Minister.
'Could you provide a list of all flights since the 21st of May 2022 on which animals – and specifically an animal called Toto – have been permitted on board special purpose aircraft?' she asked.
Mr Chipman confirmed that a pet had been known to travel on the special purpose aircraft primarily used by the Prime Minister for official duties.
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