Coronation Street works with RSPCA on puppy farming storyline

Coronation Street has joined forces with the RSPCA to highlight the issue of illicit puppy breeding in a hard hitting storyline involving Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman).

In tonight’s episode (Wednesday 6th December), viewers saw Evelyn witness a man mistreating his dog before confronting him, and in Friday’s episode, she will encounter him again and decide to take action, putting herself in danger.

In the coming weeks Evelyn and Cassie (Claire Sweeney) are determined to get to the bottom of what the dog’s owner is up to. They discover he is breeding and selling puppies out of a puppy farm at his home. Will they be able to bring him to justice?

The ITV soap has worked closely with the RSPCA to make sure the storyline is accurate as well as to ensure the welfare of the dogs used in the show. Their inspector and performing animal welfare expert Herchy Boal was on set at all times.

RSPCA Inspector Herchy Boal said:

“Sadly, our frontline officers too often see the negative impact that illicit puppy breeding can have on animal welfare. It’s all the more vital to raise awareness of this ahead of Christmas – when many people might be considering adding a pet to the family.

“The team at Coronation Street were fantastic – showing great patience, listening to our advice and always putting the welfare of the puppies first – even pausing filming for long periods whenever the pups needed a nap!

“As this storyline airs, we’d always urge anyone who has done the research and is thinking of adding a pet to the family to choose adoption. There’s so many animals in our centres looking for a chance of forever home happiness. But for those wanting to buy a puppy, the Puppy Contract is a great tool to help spot rogue dealers and contains a checklist to make sure a breeder is doing the right things.”

Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod said: “It was hugely important to us to work with the RSPCA on this storyline, both in terms of the accuracy of the on-screen narrative and also the welfare of the animals on set during filming. It is a really important story to tell, but it was also vital to make sure it was fun for the actors’ canine co-stars and it certainly was!”

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV and STV.