景一

Gary wasnt used to being around people. He didnt like being touched or even looked at. If anyone came too close， hed lash2 out.

加里不习惯和人类呆在一起。它不喜欢被人触摸或被人盯着看。如果有人走得太近，它就会攻击。

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

它现在很适合这份工作，因为在这项“工作猫项目”中，猫的脾气坏也没问题。

Philadelphias Animal Care and Control Team established the program about four years ago to place unadoptable cats—the biters3， the skittish4 and the ones that wont use a litter box—into jobs as mousers5.

大约四年前，费城动物管制中心建立了这个项目帮助安置那些无法被领养的猫，比如那些爱咬人的猫或怕人的猫，以及那些不会使用猫砂盆（猫厕所）的猫，让它们承担捕鼠的工作。

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， vaccinated7 and free of charge.

这个动物收容中心最近扩展了该项目，以一种环保的动物管制的方式，将那些不太理想的宠物猫转移去像工厂和仓库这样的地方工作。它们被植入了微信晶片，接种了疫苗，并且是免费的。

“Part of the reason cats became domesticated8 was to get rid of the rodent9 population，” said Ame Dorminy， ACCTs spokeswoman， “We took advantage of their nature to hunt and made an official program out of it.”

“收养猫的部分原因是为了控制老鼠的数量，”动物管制中心的发言人艾米·多米尼说，“我们利用了它们捕猎的天性，并据此制定了一个官方项目。”

Cats identified as good matches for the program are kept in a separate aisle10 at 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 intake11 sheet listed his qualifications12： hissing， swatting， spitting， cant be picked up. A few doors down， Prince was standoffish13 in the corner of his cage.

挑选出的非常符合该项目的猫被排成一行安排在收容中心单独的侧廊中，这被称为TTA，即调整期。在最近的一次到访中，可以听到笼中传来的一只名为斯派克的雄猫的低吼声。它的领养记录表上列举出了对它的描述：乱叫，乱打，随地乱吐，不能抱起亲近。几个笼子开外的地方，名为普林斯的猫则冷漠地站在笼子的角落里。

“Just because cats dont want to be petted or snuggle on a lap doesnt mean they cant have good lives，” Dorminy said.

“猫只是因为不想被当成宠物饲养或者不粘人并不意味着它们就不可能过好的生活，”多米尼说。

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

“這些猫中有许多在能独处并能自由自在活动时感到更舒服。”她说，“然后，他们更容易与人互动，因为他们觉得更有自信。”

“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.

“在贝拉·维斯塔啤酒公司，老鼠整夜啃咬薯片袋子，留下烂摊子，使得工作人员每天要扔掉15袋左右，”老板乔丹·菲特兹说。……