收容所的壞脾氣毛再上崗捕鼠

湖北武漢 景一 編譯

Gary wasn’t used to being around people.He didn’t like being touched or even looked at. If anyone came too close,he’d lash2out.

加里不習慣和人類呆在一起。它不喜歡被人觸摸或被人盯著看。如果有人走得太近，它就會攻擊。

He was perfect for the job now,because at the Working Cats Program,no manners is no problem.

它現在很適合這份工作，因為在這項“工作貓項目”中，貓的脾氣壞也沒問題。

Philadelphia’s Animal Care and Control Team established the program about four years ago to place unadoptable cats—the biters3,the skittish4and the ones that won’t use a litter box—into jobs as mousers5.

大約四年前，費城動物管制中心建立了這個項目幫助安置那些無法被領養的貓，比如那些愛咬人的貓或怕人的貓，以及那些不會使用貓砂盆（貓廁所）的貓，讓它們承擔捕鼠的工作。

The shelter recently expanded the program to move cats that were less-than-ideal pets into urban jobs at places like factories and warehouses as a sort of green pet control.The animals are microchipped6,vaccinated7and free of charge.

這個動物收容中心最近擴展了該項目，以一種環保的動物管制的方式，將那些不太理想的寵物貓轉移去像工廠和倉庫這樣的地方工作。它們被植入了微信晶片，接種了疫苗，并且是免費的。

“Part of the reason cats became domesticated8was to get rid of the rodent9population,”said Ame Dorminy,ACCT’s spokeswoman,“We took advantage of their nature to hunt and made an official program out of it.”

“收養貓的部分原因是為了控制老鼠的數量，”動物管制中心的發言人艾米·多米尼說，“我們利用了它們捕獵的天性，并據此制定了一個官方項目。”

Cats identified as good matches for the program are kept in a separate aisle10at the shelter in a row called TTA,time to adjust.On a recent visit,a low growl could be heard from a cage housing a male named Spike,whose intake11sheet listed his qualifications12∶hissing,swatting, spitting,can’t be picked up.A few doors down,Prince was standoffish13in the corner of his cage.

挑選出的非常符合該項目的貓被排成一行安排在收容中心單獨的側廊中，這被稱為TTA，即調整期。在最近的一次到訪中，可以聽到籠中傳來的一只名為斯派克的雄貓的低吼聲。它的領養記錄表上列舉出了對它的描述：亂叫，亂打，隨地亂吐，不能抱起親近。幾個籠子開外的地方，名為普林斯的貓則冷漠地站在籠子的角落里。

“Just because cats don’t want to be petted or snuggle on a lap doesn’t mean they can’t have good lives,”Dorminy said.

“貓只是因為不想被當成寵物飼養或者不粘人并不意味著它們就不可能過好的生活，”多米尼說。

“A lot of these cats feel more comfortable when they can be themselves and use natural behaviors,”she said.“Then they’re more open to human interaction because they feel more confident.”

“這些貓中有許多在能獨處并能自由自在活動時感到更舒服。”她說，“然后，他們更容易與人互動，因為他們覺得更有自信。”

“At Bella Vista Beer Distributors,mice were gnawing on bags of chips overnight,leaving a mess and forcing staffers to throw out about 15 bags a day,”owner Jordan Fetfatzes said.

“在貝拉·維斯塔啤酒公司，老鼠整夜啃咬薯片袋子，留下爛攤子，使得工作人員每天要扔掉15袋左右，”老板喬丹·菲特茲說。

They tried everything,but nothing worked.An employee found ACCT’s program online,and Fetfatzes eventually decided on Gary,a white male with one blue eye and one green that had“behavioral issues”.Gary wasn’t accustomed to people and would hiss from the box.At first, Gary would stay in the office and would only go into the warehouse after hours.

他們試過了各種方法滅鼠，但都沒有效果。一位員工在網上看到了動物管制中心的項目，而菲特茲最終決定選擇加里這只有一只藍眼睛和一只綠眼睛的，有“不良行為”的白色雄性貓咪。加里不習慣人的存在，會在箱子里發出嘶嘶聲。起初，加里會呆在辦公室，只會在人們下班后進入倉庫。

As the weeks passed,he warmed up to workers and customers,and has transformed into a sweet,playful mascot with free rein14of the store.

幾個星期過去了，它同工人和顧客們熟絡了起來，并成為了店里的一個完全行動自由的甜美活潑的吉祥物。

Fetfatzes describes himself as a“dog guy”who’s turned in to a cat lover thanks to Gary.

菲特茲說，由于加里，他從一個“狗奴”變成了一個愛貓人士。

Neighborhood kids come in just to say hi to him,and he loves to play soccer with a worker.

鄰居的孩子們常溜進來只是想跟它打個招呼。它喜歡和工人一起玩足球。

As for the mice,they vanished,seemingly scared away by Gary’s scent,Fetfatzes said.

至于老鼠，他們消失了，似乎被加里的氣味嚇跑了，菲特茲說。

“You’re not only saving your business money,you are helping save the life of an unwanted pet,”he said.“And in this case,we made a friend.”

“你不僅節省了生意錢，還幫助挽救了一只被人嫌棄的寵物的生命。”他說，“并且在這種情況下，我們交了個朋友。”

A number of shelters around the country have working cat programs.One of the first,in Los Angeles,launched in 1999.Many focus on placing unwanted cats into barns15and stables16. Chicago’s Tree House Humane Society places unwanted cats at apartments and suburban backyards. Pennsylvania’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals puts its cats to work in all kinds of jobs,from barns to wineries.

全國各地的一些收容所都有工作貓項目。最早的一批中有一個在洛杉磯，于1999推出。有許多項目是把被遺棄的貓安置在谷倉和馬廄里。芝加哥樹屋保護動物協會把被遺棄的貓安置在公寓和城郊居民的后院里。賓夕法尼亞防止虐待動物協會則把被遺棄的貓安置在各種各樣的工作場所，比如谷倉或釀酒廠中工作。

Todd Curry wasn’t exactly sure what was inside the dumpster next door to the Emerald Windows showroom,but it seemed like a free buffet17for rats.

托德·庫里不知道與翡翠窗陳列室相鄰的垃圾箱里有什么，但那看起來像是個給老鼠提供免費自助餐的地方。

“It was almost comical,”he said,comparing it to a scene in the animated film“Ratatouille”with seemingly hundreds of rats streaming out of the dumpster.

他說，相比于動畫電影《料理鼠王》中成百上千的老鼠涌出垃圾箱的場景，“這簡直太滑稽了”。

“Traps didn’t work,”said Curry,so they brought in Shelley from ACCT’s program.

“捕鼠陷阱不起作用，”庫里說，于是他們通過動物管制中心的項目把雪萊帶了出來。

Soon,rat bodies started appearing.Now the rodents just stay away.

不久，被肢解的老鼠尸體出現了。現在這些嚙齒類動物剛剛離開。

And Shelley,which was given to the shelter after biting her family’s kids,has come out of her shell,craving petting and attention,Curry said.

庫里說，雪萊是在咬了飼主家里的孩子之后被送到收容中心的。它已經重新活躍起來了，并且渴望愛撫和關注。

“The only reason she was here was for the rats,but it has turned into a lot more than that,”Curry said,“adding she functions as a workplace stress reliever.”

“它到這里的唯一原因是老鼠，但理由已經不再只是這一個，”庫里說，“還包括可以緩解職場壓力”。

“It’s nice to see these cats put to use,not put down.”

“很高興看到這些貓能派上用場，而不是被執行安樂死。”

Notes:

16.stablen.馬廄；牛棚