《中英對照讀新聞》Italy restaurant fined for "cruel" lobster display 義大利餐廳因「殘酷的」龍蝦陳列而遭罰

◎魏國金

An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.

一家義大利餐廳因在冰塊上展示活龍蝦以吸引顧客，被罰鍰688歐元（台幣2萬7000餘元），這項判決是反虐待動物法的創新應用，該法通常用於寵物。

A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation. "We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell", restaurant. "They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."

義大利東北部城市維琴察的法院判決，該展示形同虐待，因為這些甲殼綱動物肯定將因窒息而慢慢死去。經營La Conchiglia D'Oro，或稱「金貝殼」餐廳的朱瑟貝．史卡利西亞說︰「我們正在上訴。他們說，躺在冰上的龍蝦蒙受痛苦…他們在法庭上將之比作其他動物，如貓、狗。」

The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002. They were shocked by the display, Cecchetto said, adding he immediately got in touch with the the ENPA national animal protection entity.

該案由環保人士吉安帕歐羅．塞契托提出，他2002年5月間帶兩名稚子上維琴察這家餐館。塞契托說，他們對這樣的展示感到震驚，並立即聯絡國家動物保護組織ENPA。

Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.

義大利有全球最嚴格的動物權利法。去年10月間，羅馬以殘忍為由禁用金魚缸，杜林省去年則通過一則法律，規定除非狗主人每天至少遛狗3次，否則罰鍰500歐元。

新聞辭典

anti-cruelty law： 保障動物權的反虐待動物法。

doom to： 注定、命定。例句︰The project was doomed to failure. 這項計畫注定失敗。