Katie Price comes close to stepping on puppy after charities call for ban on star owning pets

Katie Price has sparked fresh concern among animal lovers after she was spotted almost stepping on her brand-new puppy.

The former glamour model, 47, was seen unloading shopping bags from her car as the tiny pup darted around her feet.

The furball appeared to follow Katie closely as she made her way to the boot of her vehicle, but at one point the star came dangerously close to treading on the little dog.

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Despite the puppy's small size and apparent nervous energy, Katie chose not to keep it on a lead as she crossed the road, allowing it to trot freely behind her instead.

At one point, the pup could be seen snapping playfully at her shopping bags as it raced around her feet, in photos obtained by The Sun. The new addition to the Price family was first introduced on Snapchat earlier this week, when Katie shared a video of the young dog resting on her shoulder.

She gushed over the animal to her followers, saying: “And this little one just does not leave my side. I can’t wait for him to meet Rookie — he’s met all of the other animals. This is Rookie’s new little friend for when we go horse riding, walks, everything.”

The TV personality has yet to reveal the puppy’s name or breed, but its arrival has reignited fierce debate online about her history with animals.

A petition demanding Katie be banned from owning pets has now amassed over 38,000 signatures, following a string of tragic incidents involving her previous animals.

In recent years, several of her pets have died in accidents near her East Sussex home. In June last year, her German Shepherd Blade was hit and killed on the busy A24 — the same road where her Pomeranian Sharon died just months earlier.

The year before that, her Alsatian Queenie was reportedly killed by a pizza delivery driver. In 2020, her French Bulldog Rolo suffocated after getting trapped under an electric armchair. In 2017 her horse also died on the A24 after escaping from a field.

On top of that, she tried to sell her Sphynx cats Dobby and Hagrid for £1,300 each in 2017 because her dogs didn't get on with them.

She also reportedly fobbed her French Bulldog Precious off on a crew member who was working on her Channel 4 show Mucky Mansion in September 2021.

Animal rights charity PETA has repeatedly condemned Price for her “careless” attitude toward pet ownership. Elisa Allen, the group’s director, said: “Anyone who warns Katie not to hurt the animals she takes in might as well be screaming into the wind, for all she seems to care.”

The charity even offered Katie £5,000 earlier this year if she agreed to sign a contract pledging never to own another animal, insisting “things have gone horribly wrong with many of the animals under her supervision”.

But Katie does not seem to have been deterred by the criticism. She has proudly posted footage of her new pup, including one recent Snapchat video where she added a filter and joked: “This filter is so needed today, I am so tired.”

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