Pooch & Mutt claims it has received demands from the Metal Packaging Manufacturers' Association to remove an advert for its new cartons of wet food for dogs. The company says its packaging is 80% more environmentally friendly than cans and urges customers to ‘Ditch the Can. Help the Planet’.

According to Pooch and Mutt, the move by the MPMA has been triggered by big pet food companies who dominate the market with canned dog food.

Guy Blaskey, founder of Pooch & Mutt, said: “This is not the first time we have received threats around our marketing.

“The latest campaign for our wet food cartons urges customers to ‘Ditch the Can. Help the Planet’, as cartons are proven to be 80% more environmentally friendly than cans.

“It’s disappointing to get threats from MPMA. This is probably the least controversial campaign that we have done. If I was running one of these big pet food companies and losing millions in sales year on year I’d spend more time getting my own house in order. It’s almost a compliment that they consider us such a threat.”

With the environment such a hot topic at the moment, the Pooch & Mutt boss added: “For far too long big companies have put profits ahead of the planet and we are all becoming increasingly aware of how unsustainable this is.

“We need new approaches in a lot of industries to start fixing these issues and it tends to fall to smaller, more innovative, caring companies to develop these products and get them to market. These companies then need to promote these products. The new products and marketing are a threat to big, established companies, who have been resting on their laurels for far too long.”