每日英語跟讀 Ep.K348: About dogs - In Peru, dogs ’marry’ on Valentine’s Day

Cynthia Ceballos’ celebration of Valentine’s Day in Peru’s capital Lima was not about her own love life: it was about the marriage of two of her small fluffy white dogs.

辛希雅．塞巴洛斯在秘魯首都利馬的情人節慶祝活動與她自己的愛情生活無關：而是她的兩隻毛茸茸的小白狗結為連理。

Dressed in Andean-inspired clothing, Ceballos’ dogs were the winners of Lima’s MatriCan - a play on the Spanish words for "wedding" and "dog" - a local competition that celebrates Valentine’s Day by dressing dogs as if they were about to get married.

穿著安地斯衣著，塞巴洛斯的狗兒是利馬的MatriCan比賽贏家，MatriCan是西班牙文「婚禮」和「狗」的雙關語。這場慶祝情人節的地方競賽是以彷彿狗兒就要結婚的方式來打扮狗兒。

Mass weddings are common in Peru, especially on Valentine’s Day. It is a way for Peruvians who cannot afford a wedding of their own to celebrate and also ensure their union is legally recognized. Mass dog weddings are just a twist on the tradition.

集體婚禮在秘魯很常見，特別是在情人節。它是負擔不起自己婚禮的秘魯人慶祝的一種方式，同時確保他們的結合受到法律承認。集體狗兒婚禮只是這個傳統的一個轉折。

The owners helped their dogs sign their marriage papers, by lifting their paws and pressing them on paper. In the end, the dogs and the owners all took a picture together.

飼主透過舉起狗兒爪子並按在紙上的方式，協助牠們簽署結婚證書。最後，狗兒和飼主們全部一起合照。

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Astrology helps dogs find new owners 星座幫助狗狗找到新主人

Wags and Walks adoption center, an animal shelter in Los Angeles, teamed up with website building company Squarespace to create the website wagsandwalksfoster.com, which shows dogs and their star signs to help get better foster matches.

洛杉磯一家動物庇護所「維格斯及沃克斯領養中心」，與網站架設公司「Squarespace」合作創建網站wagsandwalksfoster.com，在上頭展示狗狗及牠們的星座，以尋求更速配的主人。

"Compatibility is a huge factor when it comes to pairing a pet with a foster owner and what better way to showcase compatibility than with astrological signs?" said Ashley Camale, head of consumer, product and international communications at Squarespace Inc.

Squarespace的客戶、產品及國際通訊主任艾希莉‧卡梅爾說：「配對寵物和領養主人時，彼此的匹配度是重大考量，還有什麼比星座更能展現匹配度？」

Workers at Wags and Walks keep records of personality traits and likes and dislikes of each dog in their care.

「維格斯及沃克斯」員工會在照料每一隻狗狗時，記錄牠們的性格特質、喜歡及不喜歡的東西。

Ariana Howell, the center’s volunteer coordinator, said, "Though for the most part we don’t know their actual birthdays, we assign them a star sign based on their personalities as we get to know them."

該中心的志工協調員亞莉安娜‧霍威爾說：「雖然大部分情況是，我們不知道牠們真正的生日，但我們還是會在了解牠們的過程中，依據性格特質為牠們選定一個星座。」

Since the website launched in mid-October, foster applications submitted to the shelter have increased by 20 percent.

網站10月中旬上線後，提出領養申請的數量增加20％。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1501581 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1504874