Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has spoken out after the ITV soap was slapped with over 800 complaints.
Fans were left fuming by a storyline that saw dog Piper poisoned by owner Tom King (James Chase) in an attempt to get his wife Belle King (Eden Taylor-Draper) out of a mental health unit.
The gut-wrenching scenes sparked a backlash from viewers, with some so sickened they vowed to turn off for good. Despite the show’s efforts to calm the storm showing that Minnie, the dog actor playing Piper, was safe and sound with a behind-the-scenes clip, fans were having none of it.
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READ MORE: Emmerdale slapped with over 870 Ofcom complaints after ‘grim’ plot with dog sparks fury
One fuming viewer took to social media saying: “I think we’ll let @Ofcom decide on whether it was acceptable to include this in the storyline. Someone’s got to rein your show in from its mad dash to become a 9pm drama. Where’s the family-friendly plots? The laughs? It’s always so grim without any heads-up.”
(Image: ITV)
Another chimed in about the knock-on effects: “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 person 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.”
A whopping 876 complaints hit Ofcom after Emmerdale aired some seriously controversial scenes, with a hefty 513 reports from the episode which aired on May 27 and another 363 the following day.
(Image: ITV)
Speaking to Daily Star and other press, producer Laura explained: “Whenever you put any sort of pet in danger on Emmerdale or anything everyone goes up in arms about it.
“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 all based on research. I promise you it’s not just us being mean to the dog for the sake of it.”
(Image: ITV/Mark Bruce/REX/Shutterstock)
An Ofcom spokesperson said at the time: “The complaints were relating to 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.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
