“Animal lovers should stop calling their furry or feathered friends ‘pets’ because the term is insulting, leading academics claim. Domestic dogs, cats, hamsters or budgerigars should be rebranded as ‘companion animals’ while owners should be known as ‘human carers’…Even terms such as ‘wildlife’ are dismissed as insulting to the animals concerned – who should instead be known as ‘free-living.’”

—Telegraph UK on the new Journal of Animal Ethics, which feels that the term “Pet” is derogatory and thinks we should use “free-living” or “free-ranging” rather than “wild animals.”

……if we’re getting into the nitty gritty, technically my cat is less of a Companion Animal and more of a Judgemental Narcoleptic Who Licks My Face Cream Off In The Night, but you don’t see me submitting that shit to journals.