ITV Emmerdale boss makes stance clear on animal cruelty plot backlash amid Ofcom row: 'Based on research!'
Emmerdale's recent animal cruelty line received 800 Ofcom complaints
ITV
Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw has spoken out on the backlash she and the show have received after the soap aired scenes depicting Tom King (played by James Chase) purposefully poisoning the dog.
Villain Tom is in the middle of a domestic abuse storyline with his wife Belle King (Eden Taylor-Draper) and recent scenes saw him injecting the dog, Piper, with something to make her ill.
The desperate act was a bid to get Belle home, leaving him to fake that Piper had suddenly deteriorated, feigning concern over the phone knowing full well he'd injected Belle's beloved pooch with something.
However, the gut-wrenching scenes sparked backlash from viewers, with many threatening they were going to switch off from the long-running ITV soap.
The show tried its best to show that Minnie, the dog playing Piper, was safe and sound with a behind-the-scenes clip, but fans were still riled up from watching the story unfold.
One outraged viewer took to X and slammed: "I think we'll let @Ofcom decide on whether it was acceptable to include this in the storyline.
Tom King is using the dog to abuse his wife Belle King
ITV
"Someone's got to rein your show in from its mad dash to become a 9pm drama. Where are the family-friendly plots? The laughs? It's always so grim without any heads-up."
Another chimed in about the knock-on effects and added: "People know Piper/Minnie is loved dearly, it's the animal cruelty that everyone is upset about. It will give abusive partners, ideas."
A third agreed: "I think most of us know the pup is fine, but there was no real need to show the extensive abuse that you did. The storyline has gone on far too long."
"That poor little dog, it’s really been unlucky finding itself in that home, poisoned by Tom and now caught in a fire because of Belle," a fourth expressed before someone else said: "I'm sorry but Emmerdale letting the dog suffer is distressing.
Tom has been abusing Belle on the ITV soap for months
ITV
"I know it's not real but no storyline should involve a dog being hurt."
Defending the show, one viewer noted: "People complaining to Ofcom about Tom hurting the dog, which we know is obviously not real, but not the fact that he's been abusing Belle for weeks?" (sic)
With the episode receiving a whopping 876 Ofcom complaints, 513 from the episode of May 27 and another 363 the following day, it prompted Shaw to explain why she chose to add in the abuse of the dog.
She told the Daily Star and other press: "Whenever you put any sort of pet in danger on Emmerdale or anything everyone goes up in arms about it.
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Fans of Emmerdale were furious when they saw the dog being abused
ITV
"So did I expect it? Yeah, but Piper will definitely play and will have a future role in the story. And you know - and again this is research-led - I'm joking about it but it's research-led.
"One of the things that we found was that is what abusers use, they will use the family pet, the people that you love, they'll use them as weapons against you. So this is all based on research. I promise you it's not just us being mean to the dog for the sake of it."
An Ofcom spokesperson said at the time: "The complaints were relating to the storyline about the poisoning of a dog."
Following the backlash, Emmerdale also released a statement reassuring viewers: "These scenes can be distressing to watch, but we want to remind you that Minnie (AKA Piper) is a very good actor and is always living her best life on set. We can confirm that no harm has come to her whatsoever."