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The British like animals. Everywhere in the world, there are clubs that look after animals, and they were all started by British people. There are homes for old donkeys, and clubs that knit coats for dogs, and hospitals for spiders, and gardens for lonely birds. There's even a club that looks after cats that have fallen into the river at Venice!
A lot of British homes nave got pets. Usually, they're dogs, cats or birds; but there are people who've got snakes, crocodiles and lions! There's a woman in London who takes her duck for a walk every Saturday with a lead round its neck.
The British do everything for their pets. The wife of the family usually cooks better food for the dog than she cooks for her husband. The dog or cat always has its own chair, and nobody must sit on it. If the family's got a bird, they wait for you tell them how well it sings. A short time ago, a husband and wife were looking after a dog for a friend. When the husband went to bed, the dog lay down on the wife's side of the bed and fell asleep. The wife didn't like to wake the dog, so she slept in a chair!
People say: "An Englishman's best friend is his dog." The Englishman talks to his dog more than he talks to the neighbours; and he likes to be able to say to his wife: "I'm going to take the dog for a walk..." and go to the pub! He often feels so lonely without his dog that, when he goes on holiday, he tries to find a hotel where people can stay with their pets. His dog eats the carpet and breaks the furniture. . . but he's happy to pay the bill!
Quite a few shops in Britain put up notices that say: 'No dogs.' This doesn't change anything: you can often see old ladies walking round these shops with their dogs. When a shop assistant tells them that they can't come in with dogs, they say: "But my dog's very small" and they look so fierce that the shop assistant's afraid that the old ladies are going to bite him!
Sometimes people say that dogs shouldn't be allowed in towns because they make the pavements dirty. An area in London has found the answer to this. It's built toilets for dogs in one of its parks!