ROME –
Italy’s Health Ministry has banned the popular “puppy yoga” wellness trend amid concerns that puppies used in the practice could be exploited and mistreated.
Sessions typically involve pups wandering around a yoga class and sometimes incorporating them into poses.
Giovanni Leonardi, head of the One Health department at Italy’s Health Ministry, ruled Tuesday that the use of dogs during exercise sessions falls under Italy’s Animal-Assisted Interventions law. This means that only adult dogs can now be used in yoga sessions to “protect the health and well-being of the animals, as well as the safety of the users.”
The ruling follows an investigation in March by the popular Italian news program “Striscia la Notizia,” which alleged that puppies were mistreated at several yoga centers and kept in pens between sessions.
The animal rights charity Lega Nazionale per la Difesa del Cane (National League for the Defense of Dogs) filed a complaint with the Italian Ministry of Health after these allegations came to light, telling authorities in documents seen by CNN said the puppies were treated “as if they were gymnastics tools.”
The puppies used in the sessions were transported in boxes or plastic bags, were used for long hours spanning multiple sessions, and were not provided with water or food to “prevent the dogs from relieving themselves in the gym,” LNDC alleged, noting that The Striscia la Notizia investigation found that many of the puppies were only 42 days old.
“Given their age, it is highly likely that these puppies would not have even completed their vaccination prophylaxis,” the LNDC complaint suggests.
CNN contacted several Italian puppy yoga centers for comment, without success.
The ruling has no legal scope for appeal, a spokesman for Italy’s Health Ministry said. “It’s the same as any service animal. You would never expect to see a puppy as an observation dog,” the spokesperson told CNN on Friday.
LNDC president Piera Rosati called this practice “exploitation for commercial purposes that does not take into account the well-being and psychophysical health of creatures that are still too fragile to be treated in this way.”
“At that age, puppies should not have to deal with travel and stress, but rather remain in a calm, protected environment under the guidance and care of their mother, who can teach them to properly socialize and face the outside world with confidence,” he continued. Rosati. .
Elisa Allen, vice president of programs and operations at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK, praised Italy for banning puppy yoga in a statement to CNN on Friday.
Allen called the practice “a sales gimmick designed to promote the breeding of ‘pedigree’ dogs, which are prone to serious physical problems later in life, and which violates the fundamental principle of yoga: ahimsa, or do no harm.” .
“While governments around the world should pay attention, we shouldn’t wait to do the right thing: PETA urges yogis to stay away from this cheap ploy that uses sentient animals as props to their detriment,” Allen said.