疫情之下，英国小狗市场出现缺货现象

中文导读

疫情之下，各行各业的供应链都大受打击，就连本不应该受疫情干扰的小狗产业链，在英国也受到了巨大的干扰，不少顾客都在哀叹“好想做个铲屎官啊！”

虽然人类生活水平的提高，小狗也渐渐成了人们心中的高端奢侈品，养的种类也是五花八门，有纯种的，也有混种的。但小狗终究还是一具生命，若仅仅只把小狗当成商品，饲养员还是不乐意将小狗出售的。

（公众号：趣读经济学人）

双语阅读：

1

“I desperately wanted a Labrador or a Basset hound,” says Imogen Patton, a maternity nurse from Somerset. “I had to give up, because all the breeders said their pups were sold out before they were even born.”

“我非常想要一只拉布拉多或者是矮腿猎犬，”来自萨默塞特郡的妇产科护士伊莫金·巴顿（Imogen Patton)说道。“后来我不得不放弃，因为所有的饲养员都说他们的小狗还没出生就被卖光了。”

2

A dearth of puppies was not among the shortages anticipated as a result of the crisis, but Britain is suffering from one. Families looking for ways to entertain their offspring and adult children worried about lonely aged parents are after them. But rocketing prices are driven up not just by the increase in demand: dog-market developments have made the supply chain vulnerable to disruption.

小狗短缺本不应是新冠疫情所带来的影响之一，但现在英国恰恰却面临着这个问题。想为后代寻找娱乐方式的家庭以及担心家中孤独老人的成年子女都在追求着狗狗。然而，小狗价格飙升并非仅由需求上升所驱动：小狗市场的发展让供应链尤其容易受到破坏。

dearth 缺乏 （shortage, deficiency)

anticipated 这里的用法就是昨天说的那个后置定语啊

可以看成 A dearth of puppies was not among the shortages that can be anticipated as a result of the crisis

after 追求；寻找

3

Pedigree hounds used to be working dogs—breeds created by Victorian aristocrats in a period of heady innovation that produced most modern canines. Pet dogs weremongrels, until rising disposable incomes turned pups into luxury items and drove updemand for Kennel Club-registered breeds. In the past decade a new trend has emerged: the designer crossbreed. These posh mongrels with pure-blood parents areoutstripping their pedigree Kennel Club cousins in popularity (see chart). But they are just as difficult to produce.

纯种猎犬曾经是工作犬，是由维多利亚时代的贵族创造的品种，大多数现代犬都是在这个令人兴奋的创新时代所产生的。在以前，宠物狗都是杂种狗，直到可支配收入节节攀升，小狗才成为了奢侈品，英国养犬俱乐部登记品种的需求也因此被推高。在过去的十年里，一个新的趋势出现了：人为混种狗。这些高贵的混种狗父母均是纯种血统，在英国养犬俱乐部里混种狗的受欢迎程度要超过了它们的堂兄弟——即纯种狗(见图表)。但是，这些混种狗同样也很难去育种。

Pedigree 纯种的

heady 令人陶醉的

drive up 抬高；迫使..上升

mongel是自然交配的混种犬；crossbreed是人为干预诞生的混种犬

outstrip 超过；胜过

4

In contrast with the parents of bog-standard mongrels, which have little trouble hooking up, pedigree bitches and studs are often separated by geography. Lockdown has created an unexpected barrier. “I couldn’t travel to visit the stud dog,” laments Julia Porter, a breeder of Norfolk terriers from Herefordshire. Stranded miles from suitable partners, her pooches have been spared a spring of pregnant servitude.

普通杂种狗的父母很容易就会进行交配，与他们相比，纯种母狗和公狗在地理位置上通常是隔开的。因此，“社交隔离”就带来了一个意料之外的障碍。来自赫里福德郡的诺福克梗犬饲养员朱莉娅·波特悲叹道:“我没法去看种公犬了。”她的小狗被困在与适合伴侣数英里之外的地方，因此春天就免去怀孕之苦了。

bog-standard 普通的；标准的；平常的

spare 免去..痛苦

5

Even where breeders own both stud and bitch and the puppy production-line is therefore unimpeded, there is some reluctance to satisfy the onrush of new customers. “Some people, you can just tell by the language—‘have you got any pups for sale’ or ‘have you got any girls’—and you can tell by the grammar and spelling,” says Brian Dash, who breeds Labrador retrievers. By contrast Stephen Charlton, who breeds Cockapoos (cocker spaniel-poodle crosses, pictured), does not screen his customers’ grammar. “I’ve never had to shine a spotlight on anybody to see if they are worthy of having a puppy,” he says. “That mentality is prevalent within the Kennel Club’s high-end, behind-closed-doors breeding world.”

即使饲养员同时拥有公狗和母狗，小狗生产链也因此不会受到阻碍，但仍有一些饲养员不愿去满足蜂拥而至的新客户的需求。养拉布拉多的布莱恩•达什（Brian Dash）说:“有些人，你只需要通过语言就能分辨出来他们适不适合养小狗——‘你有小狗卖吗’或者‘你有女孩吗’——而且你可以通过语法和拼写来判断。”相比之下，斯蒂芬·查尔顿(Stephen Charlton)饲养的可卡布(如图：可卡犬混西班牙贵宾)则不会去看顾客的语法。他说:“我从来没必要去关注别人，看他们是否值得拥有一只小狗。”“这种心态在英国养犬俱乐部的高端、封闭式繁育世界中很普遍。”

unimpeded 未受阻碍的

you can just tell by （较口语化） 你通过..就能判断出这个人了

shine a spotlight on 对..特别关注

6

Yet many breeders are concerned that lockdown will prevent new puppies from socialising with other puppies, and that owners will dump them once lockdown is lifted. “The only safe thing a breeder can do at the moment is hang on a few more weeks,” says Esther Bannister, a German-shepherd breeder. “I’ve actually told the Kennel Club to take my name off their ‘Find A Puppy’ list.” The reticence of some is driving up prices for more mercenary breeders. “‘Greeders’ is what I would call them,” says Mr Charlton, who worries that unscrupulous profiteers are turning the trade into a “click and collect’’ delivery service.

然而，许多繁育者担心，“社交隔离”会导致新出生的幼犬见不到其他幼犬，一旦“社交隔离”解除，主人会将它们丢弃。德国牧羊犬饲养员埃丝特•班尼斯特（Esther Bannister）说:“目前，饲养员唯一能做的安全的事就是再坚持几周。事实上，我已经告诉养犬俱乐部把我的名字从他们的‘寻找小狗’名单上去掉。”一些人的沉默，正推高一些唯利是图的饲养者的价格。查尔顿表示:“我会把他们称为‘贪婪者’。”他担心，奸商正肆无忌惮地把这一交易变成一种“点击提货”的送货服务。

dump 抛弃；扔下

mercenary 唯利是图的

unscrupulous 无道德原则的

7

One consequence may be new sources of supply. The Dogs Trust, a charity, fears that criminal gangs are now bringing pregnant dogs into the country from Romania. Another is that some customers are trading down. “People are selling German shepherds that aren’t even pedigrees,” says Catriona Stevens, an outraged breeder. Perhaps even the authentic mongrel will have its day again.

结果就是可能会出现新的供应源。一家名为“狗信托”的慈善机构担心，犯罪团伙现在正把怀孕的狗从罗马尼亚带进英国。另一个原因是，一些客户正在降价。“人们正在出售甚至不是纯种的德国牧羊犬，”一位愤怒的饲养员卡特里娜·斯蒂文斯（Catriona Stevens）说。也许即使是真正的杂种狗也钟有出头天。

have its day 终有出头之日