Animal rights group Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has published a blog claiming that people who buy dogs can’t be feminists.

The argument put forward is that those who purchase dogs as opposed to adopting are supporting the sexual exploitation of female dogs who are used by their owners solely to breed puppies.

Female dogs who are kept in puppy mills are forced to endure multiple births until they’re physically incapable of carrying any more puppies, the organisation states.

“In puppy mills and breeding operations, female dogs are trapped in a nightmare sickenly similar to the illicit sex trade,” Peta writes in the blog post.

“Their bodies are controlled, manipulated, bought, and sold - all for the financial benefit of their peddlers.

“When these females are no longer useful as breeding stock, they are often auctioned, off, dumped somewhere, or simply killed.

“Unfortunately, just like selling women, selling puppies can be profitable.”

While the people who run puppy mills are clearly at fault for the horrifying way in which they treat female dogs and their offspring, Peta also shines a light on the behaviour of breeders.

“Breeders may churn out fewer litters than puppy mills, but they still treat female dogs as moneymaking commodities,” the blog states.

"Even ‘hobby breeders’ force female dogs to bear litter after litter of puppies, who will be taken away and sold off for a quick buck.

“Casual breeders typically force a mother dog to go through impregnation, pregnancy, whelping, and the loss of her young at least once a year.”

In the US, approximately six million dogs and cats end up in animal shelters, with a quarter of the dogs coming from breeders of “purebreds”.

Peta is urging that people pledge to adopt animals in future.