Consumer Acceptance of Pet Food as an Outlet for Recovered Livestock Protein During Foot-and-Mouth Disease Events

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks can generate severe economic losses through supply chain disruptions, trade restrictions, carcass disposal costs, and consumer demand shocks, even though FMD poses no direct risk to human health. One proposed strategy for reducing these losses is to redirect recovered livestock protein into alternative downstream outlets, including pet food. This study evaluates U.S. consumer acceptance of pet food products containing livestock protein associated with a hypothetical FMD outbreak and compares pet food with other potential value-recovery outlets. Using an online stated-preference survey, we estimate willingness to pay for pet food attributes related to protein formulation, infection-zone status, country origin, vaccination disclosure, and price. We also compare these findings with consumer valuation of beef products and a two-stage ranking exercise measuring preferences for alternative downstream uses of meat from animals recovered from FMD. Results indicate that acceptance of recovered livestock protein is highly conditional. Pet owners required a substantial discount for pet food products sourced from a U.S. infected zone, while products sourced from U.S. noninfected zones received the highest valuation. Vaccination disclosure generated a positive willingness-to-pay premium, suggesting that consumers value information signaling disease management and oversight. Pet owners also preferred single-protein beef formulations over blended alternatives. The ranking exercise showed that pet food was viewed as a moderately acceptable downstream use, though indirect uses such as industrial applications and feed for nonfood animals received stronger support. These findings suggest that pet food may serve as a supplementary value-recovery outlet during FMD events, but its effectiveness would depend on transparent labeling, credible safety assurances, price discounts, consumer trust, and the ability of supply chains to manage segregation, verification, and coordination costs.