A woman who put her dog on a vegetarian diet was left red-faced when the pooch chose to eat meat over vegetables live on This Morning.

Lucy Carrington, who isn't a vegetarian or vegan herself, chose to put her white Siberian husky Storm on a meat-free diet when she started going off her food in this summer's heatwave.

The mum-of-three bought Lucy vegetarian dog food and allows her to eat the family's leftover vegetables, claiming it helps 'perk her up'.

However, when Storm was allowed to choose between a bowl of vegetables and meat she walked straight over to the meat and happily wolfed it down.

This Morning viewers criticised Lucy for changing her dog's diet, with some accusing her of 'animal cruelty'.

White Siberian husky Storm, who follows a vegetarian diet, chose to eat a bowl of meaty dog food when she was given the choice between that and a bowl of vegetables on This Morning. Pictured: Storm tucking in with (left to right) Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Storm's owner Lucy Carrington and veterinarian Scott Miller

Veterinarian Scott Miller said making a dog follow a vegetarian diet is denying them choice, but host Eamonn Holmes had a solution.

He said: 'You say dogs can't make the choice, but on this programme they can make the choice.'

Two assistants brought out one dog food bowl of meat and another of vegetables, and Lucy was told to let Storm's lead go to see what she would choose to eat.

Without hesitation Storm ran straight over to the meat and tucked in.

This Morning viewers took to Twitter to criticise Lucy for putting her dog on a vegetarian diet (pictured), with some calling it 'animal cruelty'

'Oh you little.. I didn't swear,' Lucy said. 'In fairness the weather has cooled down quite dramatically.'

Ms Carrington said the dog never eats much meat in the summer which made her worry that Storm wasn't eating enough, and so decided to turn her vegetarian.

She said: 'During the summer months she just went off her food, strangely. I'm certainly not one of those, I'm not vegetarian I'm not a vegan, far from it, though I've reduced my meat consumption.'

Mother-of-three Ms Carrington (pictured on This Morning) is not a vegetarian herself but put Storm on the diet because she was worried she wasn't eating enough

Ms Carrington said Storm (pictured on the ITV chat show) 'perked up' when she first tried the vegetarian food, insisting: 'She really took to it'

She said that she wouldn't want to impose vegetarianism on the dog permanently, but did it for health reason.

She continued: 'I wouldn't want to impose it on anybody because my mother-in-law and father-in-law are vegetarians and we often had many debates. I've got a large family, they're all boys. We're doing burgers and sausages every night.'

Speaking about Storm's reaction to the veggie food, Lucy said: 'She seemed to perk up be a lot happier. She really took to it.'

Ms Carrington's decision was criticised by viewers, who said she was being cruel to the dog by denying her meat.

Storm didn't hesitate to choose between the meat and vegetable options, rushing straight over to wolf down the meat (pictured)

Ms Carrington seemed red-faced when Storm chose the food, saying 'oh you little..' before blaming the recent drop in temperature. Pictured: Storm on This Morning

One tweeted: 'Animal cruelty dogs are carnivores.'

'The dog woman is seriously winding me up!!!' another posted.

A third wrote: 'Meat Vs Veg. What will a Dog choose I wonder?? Great bit of Live TV!!'

Veterinarian Scott Miller explained that while dogs are omnivores and so eat both meat and plants, making them vegetarian is taking away their freedom to follow their natural need to eat meat.

Veterinarian Scott Miller (pictured right with Lucy, left) said putting dogs on vegetarian diets takes away their choice, which is what vegetarians and vegan have when they change their diets

Ms Carrington said she would put Storm (pictured on This Morning) back on a meat-eating diet now because she clearly prefers eating meat

Dogs get a number of health benefits and vitamins from eating meat; including Amino acids and vitamin D, which they can't synthesis through their skin like humans do.

He said: 'People make this decision for all sorts of reasons; people are making it for cultural reasons, for religious ones, for reasons of animal welfare, but the point is it's a choice and our pets can't make that choice so it's something we have to be exceptionally careful about.

'They can't make the choice so we need to do look at the natural history which dictates that dogs are omnivores they eat a mixture of meat and plant in order to get all the essential minerals and vitamins they need.'

Lucy admitted that she would now be giving Storm meat again as her dog was clearly missing it.

'If this is what she wants then obviously I'm going to adapt accordingly.'