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When wellness meets welfare: the hidden cost of puppy yoga

It’s the wellness trend that’s suddenly everywhere; dominating social media feeds, featuring on reality shows and morning news segments, and taking over yoga studios across the country. “Animal yoga” generally featuring puppies or kittens but also extending to other animals including bunnies and even goats, has exploded in popularity, promising a blend of mindfulness and cuddly connection. But delve deeper behind the viral videos and ‘cute’ selfies and a number of serious animal welfare concerns begin to emerge.

RSPCA Australia
Wednesday, 10 December 2025

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It’s the wellness trend that’s suddenly everywhere; dominating social media feeds, featuring on reality shows and morning news segments, and taking over yoga studios across the country. “Animal yoga” generally featuring puppies or kittens but also extending to other animals including bunnies and even goats, has exploded in popularity, promising a blend of mindfulness and cuddly connection. But delve deeper behind the viral videos and ‘cute’ selfies and a number of serious animal welfare concerns begin to emerge.

What do the classes involve?

Typically, animal yoga classes involve a standard yoga class, with the addition of young animals who may roam around the room, interact with participants by being petted or held, and are sometimes even incorporated into the poses. Organisers of these events claim the benefits of these classes for humans include stress relief and mood improvement, while claiming the classes help socialise the young animals.

Animal needs and development risks

Puppies and kittens are at a crucial stage of physical and emotional development during the early weeks of their lives when many are used in yoga classes. During this time, they need long periods of uninterrupted sleep, gentle and predictable socialisation, and regular feeding schedules to support their immune systems and growth. An animal’s early experiences will shape their mental health, and how they behave into adulthood, thus using young and vulnerable animals in yoga events can be significantly disruptive to their development.

The claim of socialisation benefits for animals involved in yoga classes is generally widespread and inaccurate. When introducing puppies or any young animal to the world, they need to feel safe and secure, ideally with someone they already know and trust. Young animals should be socialised by exposing them to a variety of positive, controlled experiences with different people, animals, sights and sounds that they are likely to encounter regularly over the course of their lifetime. Socialisation should be done gradually, in short bursts, without force, and always with positive reinforcement such as praise and treats as a reward when they are relaxed and engaged with the experience. Animal yoga classes don’t support healthy interactions because the setting and activities aren’t suitable for proper socialisation. Instead, animals sometimes as young as 6 weeks old are being parted from their mothers and thrust into a room full of strangers in an unfamiliar environment. The animals are often passed around with little choice about when, and how they interact with class participants, subjected to excessive stimulation without a means to escape.

While they may appear to be robust and playful at times, these are still baby animals who require an extra level of gentle care and attention. Disrupting their routines and transporting them to and from venues to be handled by strangers is of no benefit to them and risks causing them harm.

An unregulated industry

Animal yoga remains largely unregulated in Australia, meaning there are no consistent national standards or laws dictating how yoga businesses must operate to protect the welfare of the animals. Without proper regulation, the conditions in which sessions take place can vary widely and can risk compromising the wellbeing of the animals involved.

People attending the classes are often given no guidance on how to safely handle the animals, putting the animals at risk of being dropped or injured. It is largely an unpleasant experience for them. Inadequate supervision, hygiene issues, and overexposure to human contact can also increase the risk of illness or behavioural problems later in life. Until formal guidelines or regulations are introduced, the welfare of animals used in yoga classes depends entirely on the discretion and ethics of individual organisers, who even with the best intentions can still engage in practices that have poor outcomes.

‘Borrowed’ from breeders with questionable practices

A further welfare concern lies in the practice of sourcing or “borrowing” puppies and kittens from breeders to supply yoga sessions.

This practice raises multiple red flags. Without regulatory oversight, there is no guarantee that the breeders involved are reputable, licensed, or following best practice welfare standards around breeding frequency, housing, or animal care. The lack of transparency makes it impossible for participants to know whether they are indirectly supporting puppy farming or commercial breeding operations that prioritise profit over welfare.

Especially concerning is the more frequent use of French bulldogs, Pugs, and Dachshunds in animal yoga classes, all of which are breeds with extreme features already prone to serious heredity health issues such as brachycephalic airway syndrome, joint deformities, and heat intolerance.

Animals deserve our care and respect

Animals are sentient, individual beings who experience a range of emotions and have specific needs. With this understanding, they should be cared for in a way that prioritises their mental experiences as well as their physical requirements. When animals are incorporated into activities designed for, and to benefit humans, there’s a risk that their health, social development, and welfare become secondary. There’s also the concern of such activities creating a stronger market for irresponsible breeding practices.

We can do better. Moved by animal welfare concerns, Italy has already made the historic decision in 2024 to ban the use of puppies in yoga classes, allowing only adult dogs to be in ‘animal assisted’ wellbeing activities.

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When wellness meets welfare: the hidden cost of puppy yoga

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