现在，风行各大社会化媒体的不只有网络红人，还有萌萌的网红宠物。“不爽猫”、小猫“莉尔·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”等网红宠物引来很多网友围观，一同也凭仗其“明星号召力”，助力了动物慈悲工作的开展。
They have millions of followers on Instagram. They generate major profits for their owners. They are … pet influencers.
它们在社会化媒体Instagram上粉丝量达数百万，为其主人带来了巨大的收益。这些小动物便是网红宠物。
Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, Boo the Pomeranian and Doug the Pug are just some of the internet’s star animals, who do everything from support worthy causes to promote major brands.
“不爽猫”、小猫“莉尔·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”仅仅网络明星宠物中的一些代表。它们从事多种活动，不只支撑一些有意义的工作，还做品牌推行。
The death last Sunday of Lil Bub, a cat whose tongue was always hanging out due to genetic anomalies, inspired a wave of emotion that highlighted the internet’s power to elevate just about anything to cult status.
上周日（12月8日），莉尔·巴布的逝世令许多人沉痛不已，这也显示出网络能把任何事物推上神坛。由于基因反常，莉尔·巴布的舌头总是吐在外面。
“She was a ray of pure joy in my life and so many others,” said one Instagram user.
一名Instagram用户说：“她给我的日子带来了朴实的高兴，对其他人来说也是如此。”
Lil Bub rose to fame after her adoption in 2011, when her owner, music producer Mike Bridavsky, began posting photos and updates about her online. Her story garnered three million followers on Facebook, 2.4 million on Instagram and more than 800,000 on Twitter.
2011年，莉尔·巴布被收养后声名鹊起，其时她的主人、音乐制作人迈克·布里达夫斯基开端在网上发布她的相片，并更新她的动态。她的故事在脸书上招引了300万粉丝，在Instagram上招引了240万粉丝，推特粉丝也超越80万。
Bub’s fame eventually caught the attention of scientists. In May 2015, researchers at the University of Missouri in the United States sequenced her genome as part of a project to determine what genetic variations had caused her adorable deformities.
莉尔·巴布的名望终究引起了科学家的留意。2015年5月，美国密苏里大学的研究人员对她的基因组进行了排序，以确认哪些遗传变异导致其舌头出现反常，而这种反常又如此心爱。
Bridavsky also started a national fund for special needs pets, the first of its kind, with Bub serving as its face. “Bub has made a huge difference in the world of animal welfare and in the lives of millions of people worldwide,” Bridavsky wrote on Instagram, noting the fund has raised US$700,000 for “animals in need,” with US$75,000 raised in 2018 alone.
布里达夫斯基还为有特别需求的宠物成立了一个全国性基金，也是首个此类基金，莉尔·巴布为其代言。布里达夫斯基在Instagram上写道：“莉尔·巴布给动物福利范畴和全球数百万人的日子带来了很大改动。”他指出，该基金已为“有需求的动物”筹资70万美元（约合人民币492万元），仅2018年就筹集了7.5万美元。
Over the course of her life, the cat, based in the US state of Indiana, lent her star power to multiple causes supported by Greenpeace and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
日子在印第安纳州莉尔·巴布在其终身之中，凭仗其明星宠物的号召力，支撑了绿色平和安排和美国动物维护协会的多项工作。
Since 2013, Lil Bub has also been the face of campaigns with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) promoting sterilisation and pet adoption.
自2013年以来，莉尔·巴布一直是善待动物安排宣扬绝育和宠物收养活动的形象大使。
Lil Bub “used her stardom to make the world a better place for animals”, Peta said in a tribute tweet. “Honour her legacy by remembering her message: always adopt, never shop.”
善待动物安排在向莉尔·巴布问候的推文上说：莉尔·巴布“使用她的‘星光’让国际对动物来说愈加夸姣。咱们尊重她的精力遗产，铭记她的理念：永久领养，远离购买。”
While Peta campaigns director Ashley Byrne welcomes pet influencers’ charitable ventures, she is also adamant that the work must not come at the expense of the pets’ welfare.
尽管善待动物安排的活动主管阿什利·伯恩欢迎网红宠物参加慈悲活动，但她也坚称这绝不能以献身宠物的福利为价值。
Nobody should “treat animals as accessories or frivolous possessions”, she said. “It’s important for people with animals who have an audience on the internet to encourage their followers to treat their pets like members of the family.”
她说：任何人“都不应该把动物当成附属品或可有可无的东西，网红宠物的主人们要鼓舞其粉丝像对待家庭成员相同对待他们的宠物，这很重要”。
That, says animal talent manager Loni Edwards, is exactly what makes pet influencers so successful.
动物人才司理洛尼·爱德华兹说，这正是网红宠物们如此成功的原因。
Edwards’ talent agency, The Dog Agency, manages pet influencers of all species, from Bruno the fat cat to CEO Edwards’ own French bulldog.
爱德华兹的动物署理组织“狗狗署理”办理各种网红宠物，从肥猫布鲁诺到首席执行官爱德华兹自己的法国斗牛犬。
“As a society, we’ve evolved so that we now think of pets as our children,” Edwards said in a November 2018 interview with Vox. “They’re such an important part of our lives.”
2018年11月，爱德华兹在承受Vox采访时说：“咱们已进化到把宠物当成自己孩子的社会。它们是咱们日子中重要的一部分。”
As of 2019, American households owned more than 42 million cats and 63 million dogs. The market for pet products in the US earned US$72 billion in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association (Appa).
到2019年，美国家庭具有超越4200万只猫和6300万只狗。依据美国宠物用品协会的数据，美国的宠物用品商场2018年收入达720亿美元。
Additionally, since Instagram launched in 2010, the word “cat” has been used on the platform 193 million times and the word “dog” 243 million times.
此外，自2010年Instagram上线以来，单词“cat”渠道使用量达1.93亿次，单词“dog”渠道使用量达2.43亿次。
“Pets raise endorphins and make people feel happy,” Edwards said. “They are adorable to look at and are easier to connect with than human influencers. Human-facing brands want to work with pet influencers because they want to show that they align on the values of their consumer, and their consumer loves pets.”
爱德华兹说：“宠物能进步人体内的内啡肽水平，让人感到高兴。他们看起来很心爱，比网络红人更简单共处。面向顾客的品牌想要与网红宠物协作，由于他们想要展现他们与顾客的价值观共同，并且他们的顾客喜爱宠物。”
As a result, pet influencers can be incredibly lucrative.
因而，网红宠物们能够带来巨额利润。
修改：许雅宁
英文来历：法新社
注：本文转载自中国日报网英语点津
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