This Morning viewers slam show over 'animal cruelty' as dressed up dog shakes live on air

This Morning viewers have blasted the show after a dog was seen shaking live on air.

On Tuesday morning, Dermot O'Leary and Rochelle Humes were hosting the ITV magazine show when invited Bev Nicholson and her dog Mia onto the set after her pet pooch has become something of a Hollywood star after being cast in Lena Dunham's series Too Much and has even posed for Vogue.

The Chinese crest was walked over to the famous sofa to the sound of Madonna track Vogue while dressed in a frilly purple tutu complete with ribbons.

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Bev explained: "Mia is a rescue dog, so she had a sticky start but ended up with me. She's been with me quite a long time now, she's Chinese Crest."

But viewers were instantly concerned for the wellbeing of the dog when she began to shake in front of the cameras, prompting Dermot to ask: "Is she shaking because she's a bit cold?"

Bev replied: "Yeah, it's chilly in here," as Rochelle cut in: "I'm glad you say that, because I'm a bit chilly with myself" before proceeding with the interview.

But viewers at home were still worried about the dog, and flooded social media with their comments. One wrote: "This dog is shaking because it’s cold in the studio???? How about scared & worried!! This is just wrong!" and they embellished their post with a series of angry-faced emojis.

Another viewer weighed in: "Some of us disagree on this hashtag, some of us argue But all of us love animals. This is cruelty" and another said: "Absolutely ridiculous!!!! Someone give this woman a grandchild and some mental health counselling ffs!! That poor dog!!!"

One fan berated This Morning for giving the item airtime in the first place as they wrote: "them actually promoting it is disgraceful they should be ashamed!!" and, another, concerned for the dog's safety, said: "The dress and blanket will be heavily weighing that poor dog down."

Another angry viewer insisted that dressing an animal like that should be 'made illegal' whilst someone else suggested: "If your gonna dress mia dress her with a warm doggy coat not a daft dress", whilst another viewer said: "This is all about making money, attention seeking and having her 15mins of fame for the owner, not about caring for the poor dog, It's animal abuse." The Mirror has contacted ITV for comment.

During her chat with Rochelle and Dermot, Bev spoke of how she had signed many of her canine companions to an agency but didn't hear anything for years so had given up hope that any sort of success would come about. Then, out of the blue, she received an invite to go to a casting and she claimed that former Girls star Lena picked Mia on the spot to star in her new Netflix show.

She said: "I had a house full. At the time, I had seven so I put them all on the agency. But then I didn't hear anything for 10 years so I'd kind of forgotten about it and then we got a phone call asking if we wanted to go for a casting. I wasn't too sure. I didn't realise [how big the role was] at the time. Lena Dunham came out of her office, scooped Mia up and went 'This is Astrid!'

"We had a few days where we were let go earlier which was nice but very long days. Most of it was sitting around waiting with lots of repetition. Very well looked after, she got puppicinos every day!" A year after filming Too Much, the pooch was asked to be in a Fergie music video reimagining for London Bridge and was then scouted to appear in the world's most famous fashion magazine.

Bev explained: "They were doing a thing for Too Much and said 'They want the dog.' She prefers people, she's not nasty with other dogs, she just can't be bothered with them." Asked if Mia has retired now, Bev said: "Well, yes, unless we get a phone call that we can't [turn down]."

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