中英對照讀新聞》America’s animal shelters are overcrowded with pets from families facing economic and housing woes 美國的動物收容所塞爆因飼主有經濟與住房困境而棄養的寵物

等待被收養的大狗凱恩因動物收容所「寵」滿為患而被迫住進收容所工作人員的辦公室。（美聯社）

◎張沛元

Kaine is a big, buoyant dog looking for a home. But lately, he’s spending a lot of time at the office.

活潑大狗「凱恩」正在尋找一個家，但牠最近大多待在（動物收容所的）辦公室。

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Animal shelters around the U.S. are bursting at the seams amid the rising cost of living, so the gray and white 7-year-old has been staying in a worker’s office at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society while awaiting adoption.

由於生活成本持續上漲，美國各地的動物收容所已「寵」滿為患，所以這隻7歲大的灰白色狗「凱恩」在等待被領養期間，一直住在（美國紐約州梅南茲的）莫霍克哈德遜人道協會的工作人員的辦公室。

The number of animals entering shelters began to climb in 2021, after a pandemic-related dip. Adoptions haven’t kept pace with the influx of pets — especially larger dogs like Kaine — creating a snowballing population problem for many shelters.

進入收容所的動物數量一度因武漢肺炎疫情大流行而下降，之後在2021年開始攀升，但寵物被領養的速度並未跟上寵物大量湧入收容所的步伐－－特別是像凱恩這樣的大狗－－對許多收容所造成日益嚴重的收容數量的問題。

新聞辭典

burst at the seams：慣用語，（場所）過於擁擠，快擠爆了。seam指接縫，衣服太小導致衣服接縫爆裂，指某處太擁擠、人太多或東西太多。例句：The nightclub was bursting at the seams after midnight.（這家夜店午夜過後人多到爆。）

snowballing：形容詞，（規模或程度）如滾雪球般迅速增大的。例句：Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party was scrambling to contain the snowballing slush fund scandal.（日本執政黨自民黨正使勁遏制如滾雪球般擴大的收賄醜聞。）

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