Emmerdale fans were left completely heartbroken earlier this week when the death of a much-loved character was announced.
A few weeks ago, Moira’s (Natalie J Robb) son Isaac (Bobby Dunsmuir) wanted to learn more about running a farm. Moira happily showed him around a few barns and allowed him to interact with some animals, but Isaac struggled with the fact the four-legged friends he was saying hello to would eventually end up as someone’s dinner.
This eventually led Isaac to deciding he would keep a lamb – who he named Minty – as a pet. The little orphaned lamb Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) had gone to see on a neighbouring farm hadn’t been expected to survive.
It was a sad situation, but vet Vanessa and farmer Moira were realistic about the harsh realities of these things. For Isaac, who was with Moira, what he saw was a very cute little creature who needed a friend.
Later Moira was shocked to find that Cain (Jeff Hordley) had given in to Isaac’s pleading and they’d gone to get the lamb and brought it back to Butlers.
Despite her annoyance towards the situation, Moira gave in and allowed Isaac to keep the lamb. He loved hanging out with Minty but this week, he made an absolutely devastating discovery.
Isaac had gone out to play with his little friend, only to find that he’d skipped off to the big farm in the sky. In their concern for their son, Moira and Cain’s niggles with each other were forgotten. Moira, with her farming background, gently explained through tears that orphaned lambs often don’t survive. ‘I loved him,’ Isaac said. Cain reassured him that he’d made Minty’s short life very happy.
Brb, crying.
After these upsetting scenes, Emmerdale fans took to social media to express their thoughts. While many felt the same as Isaac, some couldn’t help but wonder if Tom King (James Chase) may have something to do with Minty’s sudden demise.
We know full well that Tom – who works as a vet – is very capable of hurting an innocent animal. When Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) was spending time in a mental health unit, Tom took to poisoning Piper the dog – and very nearly killing her – to try and get Belle back home.
850 complaints were made by audience members to broadcast regulator Ofcom after the pooch was poisoned.
Following the huge backlash, Emmerdale were forced to release behind-the-scenes footage of Minnie, the doggy actor who plays Piper, to ensure she was safe.
However, despite the outcry, producer Laura Shaw has defended her decision to air the scenes and has said it was something which was alerted to them during research for the plot..
‘We should have got an ugly dog!’ she joked in a recent chat.
‘I don’t think having such a cute dog has helped. Whenever you put any pet in danger on Emmerdale everyone goes up in arms about it. Did I expect it? Yes.’
She continued: ‘Piper will certainly have a future role in the story. I’m joking about it but it’s research-led. One of the things we found is that that’s one of the things that abusers will use, they use a family pet, people you love, they’ll use them as weapons against you.
‘So this is all based on research, I promise you it’s not just us being mean to the dog for the sake of it.’
