"The British express more affection towards pets than they do children"?

[Sudeko]

I was informed by a friend who is staying from overseas. I know that one cannot generalize but is it true especially for families with older kids?

It's true now. I still treat the pets like I'd did my dc when they were babies and young toddlers. They'd be horrified/mortified if I still spoke to and fussed them the way I do the pets 😆. The animals don't mind

Sometimes yes I think some people in the UK are more patient and understanding towards animals than they are children.
I think it's odd when people humanise animals and treat them as though they are more important than human children .

I can see how it looks to other cultures.

I saw a joke somewhere that English people pay a stranger to look after their children and take their pets out to dinner.

I have been abroad, Turkey, where people I am holiday on with were ignoring begging children but feeding stray cats from their table when eating outdoors - and they were feeding them prawns and steak - stuff that even the waiters serving them probably could not afford to eat. I remember asking them not to do that and in the end I just walked away from the table.

I think this is an old fashioned saying applying to the upper classes, eg loving their horses and Labradors and sending their children to boarding school . It's probably a stereotype.

I live in Denmark. Pets are never referred to as he or she, only it. When I refer to our bunny as she I am corrected. They don't seem to be considered as family members like they are in Britain.

Well, as pp's have said, you simply can't flip teenagers onto their backs and blow raspberries on their tummies past a certain point. But my dog's happy with that shizzle so I'll keep doing it to them.

I wonder if your friend has older DCs? Certainly my friends from Spain and France have a slightly different attitude to pets than I'd say was typically British - wondering aloud why we let the dog sleep in the house rather than kennelling, or when making plans to meet suggesting we just leave the dog in our garden for a whole day so we don't have to worry about getting back for toileting him - but I'd say our attitude to our children is pretty much the same...

I'm kids are teens, they won't let me kiss and cuddle the. The dog has no choice in the matter.

I get as much from my animals as I give. They have got me through the worst of times.

My kids have their own lives and are not here to support their struggling mum. Of course they would try, if I was to let on how much I struggle at times, but that’s not their job!

So yes, I love my animals dearly, but it’s a different love to the one I have for my children. My love for them includes promoting their independence.

Animals are way better than kids.

I have three kids and two cats. It's not true for me.

I think the quote refers to children v pets i general rather than a comparison of your own pets - children.

Some offices have an office pet but children wouldn’t be allowed on a routine basis.

Wasnt there a stat that the U.K. donates more to animal charities than to children’s charities?

I agree with this, as a society we really are very anti-children.

Substitute British in the title for any other country's people and their would be howls of racism.
At least we dont treat women and girls like some countries do!!