Do people in big tea drinking countries, such as the UK, India, or perhaps countries in Asia, serve tea to their pets (particularly dogs and/or cats)?
The reason I ask is because I recall watching an episode of “As Time Goes By” on BBC America some months ago. In the episode a stray dog follows the husband home. Judi Dench and her daughter want to keep the dog, so Judi says something like, “I bet he’s thirsty. Let’s get him some tea.”
As an American that seemed rather odd to me. And I think I possibly remember something in one of the “Harry Potter” books where some animal (possibly Hagrid’s dog Fang) was given tea.
I think people all over the world exist who spoil their animals and give them whatever to drink/eat they have. This is just as valid as asking, do American serve their pets Coke?
I don’t think Hagrid counts as a standard owner, much as I love him, he’s a bit kooky, isn’t he?
My entire family lives in India and drinks tea 20 + times a day (ok, I’m exaggerating a little) and they would never *dream * of giving the dog tea. Water’s what he gets.
This strikes me as the kind of dialog that would be funny because it shows that the speaker is completely unqualified to have pets. It’s kind of like saying “He looks tired. I’ll make up the spare bed.” It would be funny to a British audience because they would never serve their pets tea.
But that’s just my interpretation. I’m not a Brit. My dog gets water because I would never give him the nasty stuff I drink.
I am in Britain, and I’d agree with micco. The television thing was probably meant in exactly the humourous way suggested.
I don’t doubt, however, that there are some people who give their dogs tea, but, well there are always a minority of people with slightly unusual habits. When I was a kid, the dog once happily lapped out of a cup of tea that was in dog-reachable place (until being told off, of course). We all found it odd and sort of amusing - now we could just as easily have thought “OK, if dog likes tea, then dog may have tea sometimes”. So I can see why some people might .
My mother has been known to give whisky to goldfish, but that’s different.
