New York State Bans Cat Declawing

　　纽约州禁止给猫去爪

　　New York on Monday became the first state in the country to ban cat declawing, a practice that animal advocates consider cruel and unnecessary. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the bill into law after state legislators passed the ban last month.

　　周一，纽约成为美国首个禁止给猫咪做去爪手术的州，动物权益倡导者认为去爪术残忍且毫无必要。上个月，在州议员通过该禁令后，纽约州州长安德鲁·M·库默签署了该法案，使之正式成为了法律。

　　“By banning this archaic practice, we will ensure that animals are no longer subjected to these inhumane and unnecessary procedures,” Governor Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement.

　　纽约州州长、民主党人库默在一份声明中说:“通过禁止这种由来已久的做法，我们将确保猫咪不再遭受此类残忍且不必要的对待。”

　　The law goes into effect immediately and makes exceptions for medical purposes. Performing the procedure on a cat for any other reason could lead to a fine of up to $1,000.

　　该法案立即生效，但是也对出于医疗目的去爪术作出了豁免。如果出于其他原因对猫咪实施去爪术，最高将被罚款1000美元。

　　Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, a Democrat, first introduced the bill in January 2015. “As a cat lover and someone who has cats, I said this is cruel, barbaric and inhumane,” Ms. Rosenthal said on Monday.

　　众议员、民主党人琳达·B·罗森塔尔于2015年首次提出了该法案。她周一说道：“作为一名爱猫人士和养猫者，我认为这么做是残忍、野蛮且不人道的。”

　　She said she hoped a similar bill would also pass in Massachusetts, where legislators are considering a ban on declawing cats. “Other states tend to emulate what New York does,” Ms. Rosenthal said.

　　她表示，她希望马萨诸塞州也能通过类似的法案，那里的立法者正在考虑禁止给猫去爪。罗森塔尔说：“其他州也将效仿纽约州的做法。”

　　Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver were the first cities to ban cat declawing.

　　洛杉矶、旧金山和丹佛是最早禁止给猫去爪的城市。

　　“Governor Cuomo’s signing of this historic bill in New York is a watershed moment for the declawing issue, and we hope other states will follow suit by prohibiting this unnecessary surgery,” Kitty Block, the president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.

　　美国动物保护协会的总裁兼首席执行官基蒂在一份声明中说道：“在对猫实施去爪手术的这一问题上，库默州长在纽约州签署这份具有历史意义的法案是一个重要的转折点，我们希望其他国家也能效仿，禁止这种不必要的手术。”

　　(全文共239个词，纽约时报)

　　重难点词汇：

　　inhumane  adj. 残忍的；无人情味的

　　barbaric  adj. 野蛮的，粗野的；原始的

　　emulate  vt. 仿真；模仿；尽力赶上；同…竞争 n. 仿真；仿效

　　watershed  n. 流域；分水岭；集水区；转折点 adj. 标志转折点的

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