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A top Dutch lawmaker wants to put a leash on so-called puppy yoga, the wellness craze sweeping big cities thanks to TikTok and Instagram.
Agriculture Minister Pieter Adema is demanding an outright ban on puppy yoga, calling the burgeoning trend “completely nonsensical,” in an interview with Dutch outlet Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant.
“Puppies need to sleep. They are in a very early stage of their development,” he added, kiboshing Dutch yoga enthusiasts’ hopes of downward dogs with pups.
Puppy yoga does what it says on the tin: group yoga sessions, with some extra canine guests. Customers are promised both a workout and theoretically lowered anxiety levels, thanks to the fluffy companions (and some Instagram content to boot).
In Amsterdam, classes are available in the city and in places you can sign up for a session for €45, roughly double the price of your regular, humans-only slot. For some, you can select a breed; others don’t clarify until the “last minute” due to dog health and availability reasons.
However, some have raised concerns about the impact of the craze on the participating animals. An ITV investigation in the U.K. reported puppies only six weeks old were sometimes deprived of sleep and water in the classes.
“I want to say to people who signed up for these kinds of crazy practices: think again. Do you really want this?” Adema added.
And if the Dutch ban comes to pass, the Netherlands won’t be the first to prohibit puppy yoga over animal welfare concerns. Italy’s Ministry of Health banned classes last month over concerns that engagement is “physically and mentally stressful” for the animals involved.
“Banning it for puppies also means banning it for other animals,” Dutch minister Adema said.
The crossover of animals into the yoga space can be traced back to goat yoga, which is a form of yoga that accidentally originated in 2016 thanks to American farmer Lainey Morse. During goat yoga, which is described as animal-assisted therapy, the farm animals mostly jump on the backs of people performing yoga poses.
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, which monitors animal health, is expected to continue looking into all wellness trends that intersect with animal welfare. Adema said the agency has already looked into puppy yoga and raised concerns over how much space the canines had in studios.
The yoga puppies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eva Hartog contributed to this report.
