寵物文化

文/詹娜·古德羅 譯/王丹怡

寵物文化

文/詹娜·古德羅 譯/王丹怡

Charlotte Reed is a pet expert by profession1by profession 以……為業。and says she likes to be a “living example” for her clients.She and her husband have two cats and four dogs in their downtown Manhattan apartment， and she beams when they’re complimented on their appearance or manners. “I’m a proud mother，” she says.

[2] The couple has no children， although each dog has been appointed a godmother and pictures of the “babies”are displayed in every corner of the house. The animals eat as well as their owners， including homemade treats and meals to ensure well-balanced diets.“They have rotating fish， chicken and meat，” she says.

[3] All four dogs sleep in the couple’s full-size bed， packing in2pack in 堆滿；擠滿。between Charlotte and her husband. Vacations are spent on the river rather than the ocean，which might prove too dangerous for the dogs. Even so， as a precaution， each dog dons a life preserver. For birthdays the pets receive presents and a card，which usually reads “Happy Birthday!Love， Mommy and Daddy” and is signed by the siblings.

[4] Reed is not alone in considering her animals to be part of the family.America’s cultural pendulum has swung toward pets. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA)，a trade group， nearly three-quarters of U.S. households own pets， and most are willing to spend vast amounts of time and money to keep Sparky and Fluffy3sparky本意為活潑的、充滿活力的，也是很多影視、漫畫中動物的名字，如電影《科學怪狗》中主人公維克托（Victor）的狗就叫Sparky。fluffy意為松軟的、蓬松的，也多見于動物名字。這兩個詞在這里泛指寵物。happy. The pet industry has tripled in the past 15 years.

[5] In the last few years， they’ve exploded into popular culture， too. As Paris Hilton4美國模特、演員、歌手、作家、商人，希爾頓集團繼承人。養有很多寵物狗，曾與它們一起為很多品牌拍攝過廣告。and Jessica Simpson5美國流行歌手，影視演員。are splashed across the celebrity glossies with their furry friends， the broader media followed suit6follow suit照著做，仿效。. People.com offers the offshoot People Pets.com， AOL draws audiences with its new site Paw NNaa--tion， and icanhascheezburger.com gets hundreds of submissions daily of usergenerated lol cats (laugh-out-loud funny photos of cats).

[6] “People are fascinated by pets. We act and spend on them as if they were our children，” says NYU7= New York University紐約大學。sociology professor Colin Jerolmack， who studies animals in society. “We’ve civilized them to the point that they are no longer a part of wild nature.” It wasn’t always so. In the 1800s it was very rare to have a pet， Jerolmack says. They were luxury items and status symbols of the bourgeoisie， showcasing that a family had the means and resources to own a pet.Animals then were purely functional;dogs were often used to hunt， and cats used to scare off mice. As society developed and technology advanced， the utilitarian use of pets waned.

[7] Darwin’s speculations， too，brought to popular attention that animals might have selves and emotions similar to humans. Now， they are a middle class commodity that everyone wants. This trend is international: According to a CBS8= Columbia Broadcasting System（美國）哥倫比亞廣播公司。News report， there are now more pet dogs and cats—23 million—in Japan than there are children under 15. Alan Siskind is the publisher of the online magazine Dog News Daily. People are increasingly kissing their dogs， he says， so they stock up on9stock up on大量貯備，囤積。the doggie mouthwash. Owners are sleeping with their animals more， so they invest in good flea medications，too. Siskind believes that we’ve humanized them to the point that we want them to have the same food， clothes，beds and even health care as us.

[8] According to APPA， women are the primary pet shoppers， leading 80%of pet spending. Now that pets have become an integral part of the family，Siskind says， women’s pet spending reflects their “role as the primary care provider， nurturer and shopper for the human members of the household.” He believes that pets are beginning to take a central role in many women’s lives.It’s now more common for women to be single and live longer， or to have delayed or abstained from10abstain from戒絕，抑制。having children or to be working from home.A pet serves as a companion and object of their affection. “Dogs are the fourlegged child，” says Siskind， and we’re pampering them like never before.

[9] On the market now for pets are braces， orthopedic beds， strollers， car seats， electric toothbrushes and fashion ensembles from faux-mink coats to jewelry and leather jackets. And just for kicks， owners can splurge on11splurge on揮霍。feline spas， dog massages， pet toy gyms， doggie hotels with HD12= High Definition（電視、電影或錄像圖像）高清晰度，高畫質。television and a fl ight on Pet Airways， a new airline devoted to furry “pawsengers13pawsenger化用passenger，指有爪的乘客，即那些寵物乘客。.”

[10] Wendy Diamond， editor of Animal Fair magazine and author of the upcoming It’s a Dog’s World， believes the trend will only continue to compound. With growing awareness about adoption and the positive health bene fi ts of owning pets—including reducing stress and depression—more people will continue to treat them like extensions of their human selves. Diamond’s observed the transformation in the past decade. “Ten years ago， they were in the doghouse，” she says. “Now they’re on silk dog beds or in your bed.” But these considerations may not always be good for the animal.

[11] Author of Understanding Dogs，sociologist Clinton Sanders， says pet obsession has been rapidly growing during the past 20 years. “The danger is that we don’t let animals be animals anymore，” he says. “It does them a disservice and results in some ignorant kinds of treatment.”

[12] “Dogs，” he says， “would be perfectly content eating the same food every day for the rest of their lives. A dog’s owner， on the other hand， might say， ‘I would never want the same meal again and again， how boring.’ Then she goes to the store and buys her pup a variety of options， which in turn disrupts the dog’s digestive tract.” But， Sanders insists， “Dogs aren’t like us.”

[13] Similarly， interpreting their behavior as if they were human can lead to false assumptions. Says Sanders，“People might believe the dog peed on their bed because she was angry that they were gone， but what if the dog has a urinary tract infection? It’s an inappropriate way of understanding their behavior.”

[14] Why have they become so important to us? NYU’s Jerolmack speculates that it may be due to people’s decreasing connection to each other. In an era of online social networks， long work hours and distances between families，we have far fewer strong social ties and many more weak ties， he says. “We’re spending a lot more time alone or with our immediate family14immediate family 直系親屬，近親，直接家庭成員。. The companionship of pets has become much more valuable today.”

[15] Furthermore， relationships with pets are much less emotionally messy.They love you no matter what you look like or if your breath stinks. And they show affection consistently. Pets have become a relatively easy and loveable replacement of children or a strong community， which， Jerolmack warns，may lead to an impending culture clash.

[16] “In the city， we’re already seeing debates over park space going to kids or dogs，” says Jerolmack. “There will be more people demanding social recognition of pets， wanting to bring their pets everywhere. And with an industry relying on them， I don’t see us going backwards.”■

夏洛特·里德是一名寵物專家，她說她喜歡做客戶們的活榜樣。她和丈夫在曼哈頓市中心的公寓里養有兩只貓和四只狗。每當有人夸它們長得可愛或乖巧聽話的時候，她都會開心地笑。她說：“我是一名自豪的母親。”

[2]里德夫婦沒有孩子，但是他們的每只狗都認了一名教母，這些狗寶寶的照片在屋里隨處可見。它們吃的和主人一樣，包括家里自制的點心和食物，來確保它們均衡飲食。夏洛特說：“我們給它們吃魚、雞和其他肉類，輪換著來。”

[3]四只狗都睡在這對夫妻的大床上，擠在夏洛特和她丈夫之間。度假時他們會去河邊，而不是海濱，因為海對狗狗們來說太危險了。即便去河邊，為了預防意外，每只狗還是會穿救生衣。過生日時它們都會收到禮物和賀卡，卡片上通常寫著“生日快樂！愛你的爸爸媽媽”，其他的“兄弟姐妹”也都會在上面按爪簽名。

[4]像里德這樣把寵物當作家庭一員的人還有很多。美國文化的鐘擺已偏向寵物。據一家商業集團——美國寵物產品協會（APPA）——統計，有近3/4的美國家庭養寵物，大多數都愿意花大把的時間和金錢來讓這些毛茸茸的小家伙們開心快樂。寵物產業在過去的15年里增長了兩倍。

[5]在過去的幾年中，養寵物也迅速成為一種流行文化。當帕麗斯·希爾頓和杰西卡·辛普森帶著她們毛茸茸的小伙伴們橫掃多家名人雜志后，更多媒體開始跟風效仿。美國《人物》雜志官網建立了一個以寵物內容為主的分支網站People Pets.com，美國在線（AOL）則通過新網站萌爪王國（Paw Nation）來吸引讀者，網站icanhascheezburger.com每天都會收到成百上千張用戶自己生成的搞笑貓咪圖片。

[6]科林·杰羅馬克是紐約大學的社會學教授，他專門研究社會環境下的動物。他說：“人們都迷上了寵物，把它們當作自己的孩子來對待、為它們大把花錢。我們馴化了它們，使之不再具有野性。”但在過去，情況卻并非如此。在19世紀，養寵物都是很少見的，杰羅馬克說道。當時寵物是一種奢侈品，是資產階級地位的象征，可以顯示寵物的主人有財力和資源來供養它們。那時候飼養的動物基本都是有實際用途的，狗常用來打獵，貓用來嚇跑老鼠。隨著社會發展和技術進步，寵物的實用功能就逐漸減弱了。

[7]達爾文的理論也使人們更廣泛注意到動物可能有與人類相似的自我意識和情感。現在，它們成為了一種人人都想要的中產階級商品。這一趨勢在全球蔓延：根據美國哥倫比亞廣播公司新聞網的報道，日本現在有2300萬只寵物貓狗，比日本15歲以下的兒童還要多。艾倫·西斯金德是網絡雜志《狗狗新聞日報》的出版人，他說，人們越來越多地親吻自己的寵物狗，因此會囤很多狗狗漱口水。主人和寵物一起睡的時候更多了，所以他們也會買高效的除蚤藥。西斯金德認為我們給寵物賦予了太多人的特性，想要它們和我們吃一樣的食物，穿一樣的衣服，睡同樣的床，甚至和我們享受一樣的醫療服務。

[8]美國寵物產品協會發現，寵物產品的購買者主要是女性，她們貢獻了80%的寵物消費。西斯金德說，寵物已經成為家庭生活中不可或缺的一部分，女性在寵物產品上的消費反映出她們“是家庭成員主要的護理者、養育者和采購者”。他相信寵物已經開始成為許多女性生活的中心。現在，女性單身越來越普遍，壽命也普遍更長，更多女性選擇推遲生育或者不要小孩，在家工作的女性也越來越多。寵物陪伴著她們，同時也是她們寄托感情的對象。西斯金德說：“狗狗就是四條腿的小孩。”人類如此寵愛動物的情況前所未有。

[9]市面上現在有寵物專用的腿部支架、矯形床、手推車、汽車安全座椅、電動牙刷以及各類時尚用品，從人造貂皮大衣、珠寶飾品到皮夾克，應有盡有。只是出于娛樂，主人們還會花錢給貓做水療，給狗狗按摩，帶它們去寵物玩具健身房，讓它們住有高清電視的狗狗賓館，坐寵物航空（這是一家專為寵物乘客提供服務的新航空公司）。

[10]溫迪·戴蒙德是《動物名利場》雜志的主編，也是即將出版的《這是狗狗的世界》一書的作者。她認為這種趨勢將會繼續發展下去。隨著人們領養意識的提高以及養寵物對健康的種種積極影響（包括減少壓力和抑郁），將會有更多人把寵物當作他們自我的一種延伸。戴蒙德觀察了過去十年間的變化，她說：“十年前，它們睡在犬舍里，現在它們睡在絲質的寵物床或者是主人的床上。”但是這些照顧對動物來說可能并非總是好事。

[11]《了解狗狗》一書的作者是社會學家克林頓·桑德斯。他說，在過去的二十年里人們對寵物的迷戀大大加深了，“但問題在于我們讓動物變得不再像動物了，這對它們有害無利，并且由于無知而導致一些不當的護理”。

[12]桑德斯說：“狗每天吃一樣的食物就非常滿足了。而另一方面，狗主人會說：‘我絕不想讓我的狗每天都吃一樣的東西，那太無趣了。’然后她就會去商店里給她的狗買各種食物，但是這反而對狗的消化道不好。”桑德斯堅持說：“狗和人是不一樣的。”

[13]同樣地，把它們當作人來解讀它們的行為也會導致誤解。桑德斯說：“人們可能認為，狗之所以在他們床上撒尿，是因為他們出門讓它很生氣。但萬一它患有尿路感染呢？這樣理解它們的行為是很不合適的。”

[14]為什么寵物對我們來說如此重要呢？據紐約大學的杰羅馬克推測，這是由于人們彼此間的聯系減弱了。在一個在線社交網絡如此發達的時代，工作時間長，家人距離遠，緊密的社會聯系越來越少，取而代之的是人與人之間越來越多的弱連接。他說：“我們現在更多時間都是獨處或是與直系親屬在一起，寵物的陪伴就變得尤為可貴。”

[15]而且，和寵物之間的情感要單純很多。不管你形象如何，是否有口臭，它們都喜歡你，并且會始終如一地表達對你的愛。與孩子和強大的社區相比，寵物已成為更為簡單和可愛的替代品，但是杰羅馬克提醒說，這可能會導致一場即將到來的文化沖突。

[16]杰羅馬克說：“在城市里，我們已經聽到一些辯論，討論公園這樣的活動空間應該是屬于孩子還是寵物狗。未來還將會有更多人為寵物爭取社會認可，想把他們的寵物帶到各種地方而不受限制。而且現在已經有了以此為生的寵物產業，我認為未來人們只會更加重視寵物。” □

（譯者單位：武漢大學外國語言文學學院。譯者曾獲第五屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽優秀獎。）

The Pet Culture

By Jenna Goudreau