EMMERDALE has been hit by a storm of complaints after furious viewers slammed an animal abuse storyline as "cruel". The ITV soap upset viewers after killing off Belle's dog Piper in a vicious attack. Since the episode aired, 282 people have lodged complaints to watchdog Ofcom .
Piper's life was left hanging in the balance after Tom King abused his wife Belle for months. The villain hatched a new evil plan to get her back. In a recent episode of the soap, Tom was seen driving at full speed towards Belle's dog Piper as he came across the pup in the street.
READ MORE ON EMMERDALE He then got out of the car and faked shock as Belle came out of the pub just to see her beloved pooch bleeding out by the side of the road. Viewers were left furious and said they were switching Emmerdale off after the sickening scenes aired. One person complained on social media saying: "You shouldn’t show such disturbing scenes, the human abuse is bad enough, needs to be over asap.
" Another said: "Is there no line a soap won't cross? I was convinced Piper the dog wasn't really dead because there's no way #Emmerdale would actually allow that to happen to such a cute animal. This is totally unacceptable." Most read in Soaps A third said: "I feel sick about this piper storyline its hard when you have lost dogs you lov.
It is so cruel." In the scene Tom ran to grab Piper and take her to the vet, pretending that him running her over was accidental. Belle later accused Tom of "killing" Piper, implying tha.