Emmerdale confirms fate of Piper the dog as the soap risks furious backlash after Ofcom complaints

AFTER a painful cliffhanger when Piper’s life was left hanging in the balance, Emmerdale has confirmed the dog’s fate after Tom’s vicious attack.

The villain has been abusing his wife Belle for months, and after she separated from him, hatched a new evil plan to get her back under his thumb.

In a recent episode of the soap, Tom was seen driving at full speed towards Belle’s dog Piper as he came across the furball on the street.

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.

Tom ran to grab Piper and take her to the vet, pretending that him running her over was accidental.

Viewers were left furious and said they were switching Emmerdale off after the sickening scenes aired.

As a preview clip for tonight’s episode of the soap has dropped, it’s clear they have even more to be angry about as it seems Piper did not survive the attack.

In the video Belle could be seen accusing Tom of “killing” Piper, implying that the dog is indeed dead.

The heartbroken woman was visibly struggling with the loss of her beloved animal.

Tom used the opportunity to suggest he move back in to look after her, pretending that he was worried about her mental health after the incident with Piper.

She declined but he kept trying to convince her that she needs him during this difficult time.

That’s when the penny dropped and viewers watch Belle realise that Tom orchestrated the whole accident so that he could live with her again.

In shock, she says: “Oh my God it was you. It was you wasn’t it… you’ve killed her. You ran her over.”

Emmerdale was previously hit with almost 1k Ofcom complaints when they first aired a scene showing Tom using the dog to manipulate Belle.

When she took some time away from him to stay in a mental health facility, fearing she was losing her mind, he tortured the dog so that Belle would come back and care for her pup.

876 viewers contacted the television regulator to say that the abuse plot had gone too far.

One person complained, saying: “You shouldn’t show such disturbing scenes, the human abuse is bad enough, needs to be over asap.”