中文導讀
疫情之下，各行各業的供應鏈都大受打擊，就連本不應該受疫情干擾的小狗產業鏈，在英國也受到了巨大的干擾，不少顧客都在哀嘆“好想做個鏟屎官啊！”
雖然人類生活水平的提高，小狗也漸漸成了人們心中的高端奢侈品，養的種類也是五花八門，有純種的，也有混種的。但小狗終究還是一具生命，若僅僅只把小狗當成商品，飼養員還是不樂意將小狗出售的。
（公眾號：趣讀經濟學人）
雙語閱讀：
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.”
“我非常想要一隻拉布拉多或者是矮腿獵犬，”來自薩默塞特郡的婦產科護士伊莫金·巴頓（Imogen Patton)說道。“後來我不得不放棄，因為所有的飼養員都說他們的小狗還沒出生就被賣光了。”
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.
小狗短缺本不應是新冠疫情所帶來的影響之一，但現在英國恰恰卻面臨著這個問題。想為後代尋找娛樂方式的家庭以及擔心家中孤獨老人的成年子女都在追求著狗狗。然而，小狗價格飆升並非僅由需求上升所驅動：小狗市場的發展讓供應鏈尤其容易受到破壞。
dearth 缺乏 （shortage, deficiency)
anticipated 這裡的用法就是昨天說的那個後置定語啊
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；尋找
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.
純種獵犬曾經是工作犬，是由維多利亞時代的貴族創造的品種，大多數現代犬都是在這個令人興奮的創新時代所產生的。在以前，寵物狗都是雜種狗，直到可支配收入節節攀升，小狗才成為了奢侈品，英國養犬俱樂部登記品種的需求也因此被推高。在過去的十年裡，一個新的趨勢出現了：人為混種狗。這些高貴的混種狗父母均是純種血統，在英國養犬俱樂部裡混種狗的受歡迎程度要超過了它們的堂兄弟——即純種狗(見圖表)。但是，這些混種狗同樣也很難去育種。
Pedigree 純種的
heady 令人陶醉的
drive up 抬高；迫使..上升
mongel是自然交配的混種犬；crossbreed是人為干預誕生的混種犬
outstrip 超過；勝過
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.
普通雜種狗的父母很容易就會進行交配，與他們相比，純種母狗和公狗在地理位置上通常是隔開的。因此，“社交隔離”就帶來了一個意料之外的障礙。來自赫裡福德郡的諾福克梗犬飼養員朱莉婭·波特悲嘆道:“我沒法去看種公犬了。”她的小狗被困在與適合伴侶數英里之外的地方，因此春天就免去懷孕之苦了。
bog-standard 普通的；標準的；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.”
即使飼養員同時擁有公狗和母狗，小狗生產鏈也因此不會受到阻礙，但仍有一些飼養員不願去滿足蜂擁而至的新客戶的需求。養拉布拉多的布萊恩•達什（Brian Dash）說:“有些人，你只需要通過語言就能分辨出來他們適不適合養小狗——‘你有小狗賣嗎’或者‘你有女孩嗎’——而且你可以通過語法和拼寫來判斷。”相比之下，斯蒂芬·查爾頓(Stephen Charlton)飼養的可卡布(如圖：可卡犬混西班牙貴賓)則不會去看顧客的語法。他說:“我從來沒必要去關注別人，看他們是否值得擁有一隻小狗。”“這種心態在英國養犬俱樂部的高端、封閉式繁育世界中很普遍。”
unimpeded 未受阻礙的
you can just tell by （較口語化） 你通過..就能判斷出這個人了
shine a spotlight on 對..特別關注
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，許多繁育者擔心，“社交隔離”會導致新出生的幼犬見不到其他幼犬，一旦“社交隔離”解除，主人會將它們丟棄。德國牧羊犬飼養員埃絲特•班尼斯特（Esther Bannister）說:“目前，飼養員唯一能做的安全的事就是再堅持幾周。事實上，我已經告訴養犬俱樂部把我的名字從他們的‘尋找小狗’名單上去掉。”一些人的沉默，正推高一些唯利是圖的飼養者的價格。查爾頓表示:“我會把他們稱為‘貪婪者’。”他擔心，奸商正肆無忌憚地把這一交易變成一種“點擊提貨”的送貨服務。
dump 拋棄；扔下
mercenary 唯利是圖的
unscrupulous 無道德原則的
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.
結果就是可能會出現新的供應源。一家名為“狗信託”的慈善機構擔心，犯罪團伙現在正把懷孕的狗從羅馬尼亞帶進英國。另一個原因是，一些客戶正在降價。“人們正在出售甚至不是純種的德國牧羊犬，”一位憤怒的飼養員卡特里娜·斯蒂文斯（Catriona Stevens）說。也許即使是真正的雜種狗也鐘有出頭天。
have its day 終有出頭之日
