EMILY PRESCOTT: Petra Ecclestone finds herself in the doghouse – after dyeing her pet purple

Her sister Tamara was once criticised for posing in an online picture with a horse which had its mane dyed pink.

But Petra Ecclestone doesn't seem to have learned any lessons from this blunder as she has shared a picture of her Yorkshire terrier dyed an alarming shade of purple.

Perhaps anticipating the backlash, the daughter of former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone tagged her sister and wrote: ‘The calm before the storm.'

And the storm has arrived. Last night, Kate Middleton's brother James, who owns a happiness and well-being company for dogs called James & Ella, told me he strongly disapproves of the trend. 

‘Dogs are beautiful just as they are. To colour your dog is treating them as an accessory and it's totally unacceptable,' he said.

‘We should be doing everything we can to make dogs' lives happy and healthy – not making them match our outfits.'

Petra Ecclestone doesn't seem to have learned any lessons from this blunder as she has shared a picture of her Yorkshire terrier dyed an alarming shade of purple

A spokesman for animal rights charity PETA also criticised the photo of the gawdy pup. ‘Dogs are not something for bored people to treat like dolls, and Petra should be mortified not to know better. 

‘Dyeing an animal's hair is not only tacky but also dangerous. Dogs love us no matter what we look like, and humans should extend the same affection and understanding to the animals who share our homes.'

The RSPCA said: ‘Creative grooms, including the addition of shapes and accessories to the coat, as well as the application of dyes, has the potential to perpetuate the idea that dogs are objects.'

But Petra fired back at her critics last night, saying: ‘We used a vegetable dye. It's my daughter's birthday and so we dyed her [the dog] – it's non-cruel and non-toxic.

‘We have done it before and it was fine.'

I'm in no doubt Petra wants to provide a nice life for her dogs. In 2011, she revealed the real reason why she bought her £52 million Los Angeles mansion – so her miniature dogs could have more space!