Pets Jargon Buster

Fleas

Very small jumping insects that feed on the blood of mammals and birds, including humans. They tend to colonise and spread quickly and their bites cause itchiness.

Ticks

Similar to fleas, ticks feed on the blood of mammals, birds and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. They are part of the spider family and are bigger than fleas so can usually be spotted attached to skin/fur. They commonly spread disease and are linked to Lyme Disease.

Mites

Usually naked to the human eye, mites tend to feed only on animals and are generally harmless to humans. You may be familiar with certain types such as dust mites and ‘bed bugs’.

Nuisance Dog

Under the Companion Animals Act 1998 a dog is a nuisance dog if it makes persistent or excessive noise, repeatedly defecates on private property other than the one it lives in, repeatedly chases a person or someone else’s pet, endangers the health of a person or someone else’s pet or repeatedly causes substantial damage to anything outside the property that it lives in.

Nuisance Cat

Makes persistent, excessive noise that disturbs the peace, comfort or convenience of neighbours or repeatedly damages anything outside the property that it lives in.

Fouling

This is where an animal defecates and the faeces is not picked up by the owner.

Assistance Dog

Emotional Support Dog

These are typically dogs but can also be cats or other animals. They care for and support people with a range of physical, psychiatric or intellectual disabilities.

Behavioural Training

This refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or situations and can be used to combat destructive behaviour and excessive noise.

Destructive Behaviour

Not all destructive behaviour is the same, however, most commonly it refers to chewing household items such as furniture, doors, skirting boards and carpets, digging and being protective over territory.

Exotic Pets

If it’s not a farm animal, or a cat, dog or goldfish fish, then it’s likely classed as an exotic pet. It often refers to animals usually found in the wild. Examples include tortoises, rats, ferrets, insects such as stick insects, frogs, lizards snakes and bats.

ASBO

In the same way that we can get an Anti-Social Behaviour Order, dogs can too if they are aggressive towards the public. This can result in mandatory dog training classes and needing to wear a muzzle in public.

Disturbance of the Peace

This is a crime generally defined as the unsettling of proper order in a public space through one’s actions, such as disturbing others with loud and unreasonable noise.