LONDON — Dogs cannot safely bark in this city.

This troubling piece of information first came to my attention after I read an article in The Times of London that ran under the headline “Dogs That Bark at Strangers Could Face Canine ASBO.”

I was a newcomer to the city at the time and had no idea what an ASBO was. But it sounded bad.

The article was accompanied by a fearsome image of a Cujo-like creature, his head tilted as if in midroar. The first paragraph warned: “Dog owners who let their animals growl at strangers or bark in gardens could be ordered to control their pets or face fines” — of roughly $4,000 at the time — “under new laws coming into force on Monday.”

As the owner of a lightly trained golden retriever, I was concerned.

The article never explained what ASBO was, since only an American expat like myself would have to ask. I learned that it stood for “antisocial behavior order,” and it had come in with Tony Blair’s Labour government in the late 1990s.

While ASBOs were officially renamed in England and Wales in 2014, the term has lived on, particularly in tabloid headlines, to refer to actions governed by the Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act. Expanded and streamlined as part of these recent changes, it is aimed at preventing people over 10 years of age, and their pets, from behaving badly.