6 Minute English - Our love of pets

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia

6 Minute English explores how British people’s relationships with pets reflect personality, culture, and changing living standards. The episode discusses how “dog people” and “cat people” are viewed, how ownership has grown in the UK, and why social media for pets is now common. It also explains historical shifts from economic motivations in the 1800s to Victorian ideals about dogs’ loyalty and suitability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Our love of pets

Pets and personality

Pet ownership in the UK

History of British attitudes to pets

Vocabulary recap

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH 6 Minute English Our love of pets This is not a word-for-word transcript. Neil Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil. Georgie And I’m Georgie. It's said that your personality is reflected in your pet – an animal that you keep in your home as a companion and treat kindly.‘Dog people’ are supposed to be friendly, enthusiastic and loyal, whereas ‘cat people’ are introverted, proud and sensitive. Are you a ‘dog person’ or a‘cat person’, Neil? Neil I’m definitely a‘dog person’, Georgie. I want a pet that’s friendly and loves me, not a lazy cat that sits around all day waiting for food. Georgie Whether you're a ‘dog person’, a‘cat person’, or have a goldfish, hamster or parrot for a pet, the British are well known as a nation of animal lovers. In the UK, 52% of owners describe their pet as their “best friend”, and in 2021, 18 million homes had at least one pet, meaning that for the first time there were more households with a pet than without. Neil In this programme, we'll be hearing how our relationship with pets has changed over the centuries, and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you, Georgie. Nowadays thanks to the internet, modern pets are getting online. So what percent of dogs and cats in the UK do you think have their own social media profile? Is it: 6 Minute English ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024 [bbclearningenglish.com](bbclearningenglish.com) Page 1 of 5 a) 7%? b) 17%? orc) 70%? Georgie It sounds crazy, but I’ll guess 17 percent of British pets have their own social media account! Neil OK, Georgie, we'll find out the answer later in the programme. Cats using Instagram and dogs on TikTok may be a strange new development, but our relationship with pets has continually changed throughout history. In the 1800s, people started using the word ‘pet’ to describe the emotional connection they felt to a special animal, and gradually it became normal to keep pets indoors. Georgie Here, Jane Hamlett, professor of history and author of a new book, The Pet Revolution, explains to BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed, how early British attitudes to pets were based on economics: Prof Jane Hamlett First of all, on a very practical level, living standards are gradually increasing across that period, and it becomes more possible to keep pets if you have more disposable income. But I think in British culture, in the 19th century in particular, home and family are increasingly celebrated, and keeping a pet becomes a way of bringing animals into your home life, and also really expressing what it means tobe part of the family-animals become part of that. Neil Family pets became more popular as people’s living standards increased. Living standards, which are also known as ‘the standard of living’, refer to the level of material comfort people live in. It’s connected to their disposable income, the money left over to spend on things you want, after paying tax and other living expenses. In other words, as people got richer, they had more money to spend on luxury items, including pets. 6 Minute English ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024 [bbclearningenglish.com](bbclearningenglish.com) Page 2 of 5 Georgie And by the Victorian era, this included new and exotic pets such as tigers, lions, monkeys and elephants which were shipped back from around the British empire. Even the famous Victorian writer, Charles Dickens, owned a pet raven. Neil It was also the Victorians who first described Britain as a nation of dog lovers, a phrase they used to reflect the idea they had of themselves, as Professor Jane Hamlett explained to BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed: Prof Jane Hamlett In the Victorian era, dogs were very much the top pet, and you can see that the values that were often associated with dogs, so loyalty, trustfulness and, steadfastness…all of these qualitie

FAQs

How does the programme describe the difference between “dog people” and “cat people”?

It says “dog people” are typically friendly, enthusiastic and loyal, while “cat people” are introverted, proud and sensitive.

What does “living standards” mean in the episode?

“Living standards,” or “standard of living,” refers to the level of material comfort people live in, and it links to disposable income.

What was the correct percentage of UK dogs and cats with social media profiles?

The correct answer is 17%.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia