英国警方为受害绵羊打马

 Social media sites have been rammed¹ with confusion after police released blurred² images of victims of crime - who happened to be sheep.

英国警方公布了一组打了马赛克的犯罪受害者照片，大家在社交网站上纷纷表示疑惑不解，因为受害者居然是绵羊。

The lambs' identity was "protected due to their age and vulnerability", West Midlands Police said.

西米德兰兹郡的警方称，绵羊的身份“因其未成年，易受伤害而受到保护。”

The woolly passengers were spotted³ after they were herded⁴ into the back of a car and driven around by suspected rustlers.

偷羊嫌犯把羊圈在车厢后部，开着车到处走，随后引起警方注意，在车里发现了几只羊。

英国警方为受害绵阳打马

But the subsequent image circulated by the force turned out to be a joke.

但是随后警方发布的照片成了一个笑话。

Nic Barlow commented on Facebook: "I wondered why the picture looked a bit woolly."

尼克?巴罗在脸书上说：“我想知道为什么这照片看上去有点毛乎乎的。”

Abbas Zen said: "It would be an animal rights issue if they didn't [blur the images]."

阿巴斯?泽恩说：“如果他们没打码就成了侵害动物权利问题。”

Other people were less amused by the force's sense of fun.

其他人不觉得警察的幽默感有多好笑。

"Police show criminal sense of humour as they release pictures of stolen sheep with pixelated faces," tweeted Solene Deplanche.

索林?德普朗奇发推称，“警察给偷来的羊脸上打码，显示了对犯罪案件的幽默感。”

Officers said three suspected sheep rustlers found in the car near Hob Moor⁵ Road, Yardley in Birmingham were rounded up in nearby gardens - with one up a tree and another penned in a conservatory⁶.

警方说他们在伯明翰亚德利霍布摩尔路附近发现了三个偷羊嫌疑犯，被困在附近的花园里，其中一个嫌疑犯爬到了树上，一个躲在温室里。

The men aged⁷ 22, 27, and 28, were arrested on suspicion of theft, while police traced owners of the sheep.

这三个人分别为22岁、27岁、28岁，以偷盗嫌疑被逮捕，警察在找羊主人。

Jokes aside, officers said the lambs were unhurt and have been temporarily re-homed on a farm in Sheldon.

抛开玩笑不说，警察称绵羊们都没受到伤害，暂时被安置在谢尔登的一个农场。

Analysis: A sheepish decision?

分析：这是一个羞怯的决定吗？

British police have guidelines over what information they reveal about victims of crime - but was there a bit of woolly thinking in the West Midlands force after journalists were given an image obscuring the faces of allegedly-rustled lambs?

英国警方对犯罪受害者的信息披露有规定——但是记者们在拿到所谓的被偷的羊的打码照片时就没有想想西米德兰兹郡警方为什么会这样做吗？

The Data Protection Act and Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which covers family and private life, require the police to protect personal information unless there is a good reason to release it.

《数据保护法案》和《人权法案》第8条涉及到家庭和私生活，要求警察保护个人信息，除非有恰当的理由才能公开。

My mint sources tell me that an officer in the case blurred the image as a joke.

我打探到的消息称，此案的一个警察为开玩笑给照片打了码。

He presumably concluded he had an obligation under the Ewe-ropean Convention on Eweman Rights to hide the poor little lambs' faces.

他可能断定，根据《欧洲羊权公约》，自己有责任去隐藏可怜小羊的脸。

Vocabulary:

herd: 放牧；使成群

pixelate: 打马赛克，使像素化

rustler: 偷家畜的贼

1 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 herded   

群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动

参考例句：

• He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
• They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。

5 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

6 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。