Perhaps unsurprisingly, Emmerdale has received a large number of Ofcom complaints following Tom King’s (James Chase) murder of Piper the dog.

Previously, while Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) was staying in a mental health facility, Tom poisoned Piper. His plan was to hurt the dog enough so Belle would return home and look after her, and it worked.

Following the huge backlash from viewers, Emmerdale were forced to release behind-the-scenes footage of Minnie, the doggy actor who plays Piper, to ensure she was safe.

Before the episode that was broadcasted on August 16, Emmerdale released a statement that confirmed Tom would target Piper again.

‘Tom is well aware of the control he can exert by using his dog in his abuse of Belle’, actor James Chase explained at the time.

‘This deliberate act, although horrifying, is Tom’s way of getting back in Belle’s life. He knows her reaction to Piper being injured will mean he can then be the one to comfort her and get close to her again. It’s a desperate act, but Tom is clutching at anything at this time.’

The scenes saw Tom drive into Piper, who was on a road outside Wishing Well. He then rushed back to the village with Piper in a blanket and told Belle he would do everything to try and save her.

On Monday, Tom and Rhona (Zoe Henry) had been up all night trying to save Piper, with Rhona of course unaware that her colleague was the reason that the dog was badly injured in the first place. When it became clear nothing could be done, Tom broke the news to Belle.

She was, of course, devastated and said her goodbyes to her little friend, before leaving Tom to put the dog to sleep.

In the aftermath, Tom was now in a position to comfort Belle and try to re-establish his place in her life, but as he laid it on a bit too thick she had a sudden realisation that he was the one who’d killed Piper.

Horrific as this was, it sadly reflects the way that abusers can use the beloved pets of their victims as part of the abuse and as a means of exerting control.

Because these scenes were so hard to watch, some Emmerdale fans took to sending complaints to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

For the episode that aired on August 16, when Tom hit Piper, the ITV soap received 183 complaints. For the instalment broadcasted on August 19, 99 complaints were sent to Ofcom.

Commenting on a Metro.co.uk Facebook post, fans objected to the cruelty shown in the storyline as ‘hard to watch,’ with Joanne Redhead saying: ‘We know it’s only a soap but sick evil individuals see this kind of behaviour and think it’s fine to be cruel to animals.’

While others commented that it was important for the writers to show the brutal reality on the soap. Debra Coleman said it was ‘very hard to watch but sadly [it is the] reality and [the makers] have to keep it real.’

Emmerdale worked with the charities Refuge and The Dogs Trust in developing this storyline and producer Laura Shaw said, ‘Hearing first hand stories from domestic abuse survivors it’s clearly all too common that domestic abusers will use the family pet as a weapon.’

In 2019, research conducted by The Dogs Trust found that pets are often abused and, in some cases, killed by the perpetrator of domestic abuse in order to control and coerce.

In addition to the abuse pets may suffer, 97% of professionals working within the domestic abuse sector also said animals are often used as a means of controlling someone experiencing abuse.