Californians, the claw stops here, help stop declawing

The first time I saw an onychetomy or declaw was on a 10-week-old kitten. I worked at the vet hospital where it was performed and asked if I could witness the procedure. A sedative with local anesthesia was given and each toe was tied off to stem bleeding. And then snip! Each toe was, in my view, violently removed from the kitten's body. The kitten twitched a couple of times. When I made up his cage, I had to use special bedding and special cat litter because, in the vet's words, "Declaws hurt a lot." When the kitten woke up, it was to a new and painful world. He refused to get up and walk, instead meowing plaintively. The reason for the declaw was to prevent possible scratching on furniture.

In California, West Hollywood passed an ordinance outlawing declawing for non-medical reasons. The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) was perturbed by this, claiming cities and counties do not have the authority to infringe upon veterinarians' supposed "right" to mutilate cats. West Hollywood responded that state law allows localities to ban practices they feel are inherently cruel. It was a city v. state law battle brewing. The CVMA took it to the legislature and sponsored legislation to restrict cities' rights to outlaw egregiously cruel practices, like declawing. Declawing, according to the CVMA, is a necessary part of being a veterinarian and to outlaw it would infringe upon vets' normal job duties. The 2008 bill failed but was brought back in 2009 and has tragically become state law.

But any local law introduced or passed before January 1, 2010 (when the state law goes into effect) will be exempt from the state law. This means there is still a chance to prevent unnecessary suffering in house cats. The Paw Project is working tirelessly to implement laws that ban declawing before the deadline. San Francisco, Santa Monica and Los Angeles are all considering prohibiting declawing in their cities.

If you live in San Francisco, Santa Monica or Los Angeles, please contact your elected represenatives and ask they ban the unnecessary, cruel practice of declawing. Visit The Paw Project for contact information.