Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes

Emmerdale: Tom King gives dog Piper injection shocking viewers

Emmerdale has received a controversial accolade in 2024 after airing horrific scenes of abuse between Tom King and Belle Dingle.

But controversially, the scenes that attracted the most complaints to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom weren’t concerning Belle at all, but rather Tom’s abuse of their pet dog Piper. In harrowing scenes, Tom injected Piper with a drug to make her sick before locking her up in the vets – ensuring his wife came home from the mental health unit.

This week, with Tom and Belle heading to a holiday cottage in Wales, Tom locked Piper outside with no food or water, leaving Belle distraught and Piper barking all night long.

Now the show has received a whopping 1,189 Ofcom complaints since the start of 2024, with 826 of those complaints regarding Tom’s treatment of Piper, which aired on May 27th.

Fans couldn’t cope with the domestic abuse storyline as it escalated this week, with one viewer writing: “I can’t watch, this is disturbing.” Another echoed: “Cue the complaints to Ofcom!” While a third viewer agreed: “NO he’s so evil that dog has been outside all night! And now he’s locked Belle in the house so she can’t go and get her.”

Tom continued his abuse when the couple headed to Wales (Image: ITV)

Others feared Tom had actually killed Piper when they spotted blood on the walls of the cottage – but it was later revealed to be Belle’s blood from Tom slapping her so she landed in broken glass.

The only two shows that beat it in complaints were Good Morning Britain, which also concerned dogs – namely a debate between two guests about whether XL Bullies should be banned. GMB received 2,413 complaints this year, 1,634 of which related to the dog episode on May 30th.

Coming in second was ITV daytime show This Morning, which aired controversial comments from guest Nick Ferrari – who claimed his ideal airline wouldn’t allow anyone with a nut allergy to fly onboard. This Morning was hit with 1,264 Ofcom complaints in total, with 637 of these related to the May 28th episode.

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Emmerdale is the third most complained about show of 2024 (Image: ITV)

Emmerdale wasn’t the only soap in the top 10, however, as Hollyoaks came in fifth with 358 complaints, focused on a storyline concentrating on a trans child character.

That’s all according to online casino site Nodeposit365, which analysed Ofcom data between January 2nd and July 15th 2024.

Emmerdale airs weeknights from 7:30pm on ITV1.

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Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes

Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes

Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes

Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes

Emmerdale achieves controversial milestone after harrowing dog abuse scenes