Charity reveals the dark truth behind puppy yoga

Participants pet puppies during a 'puppy yoga' class. Picture: Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Cute, wriggling puppies snuggle up to yoga students performing downward dogs and sun salutations on yoga mats in increasingly common social media posts advertising puppy yoga.

But the saccharine images can conceal a darker reality involving animal cruelty, exploitation, and negligence — with exhausted, overwhelmed, dehydrated puppies often unwittingly abused while rewarding unscrupulous breeders and businesses with cash.