Friday, May 27, 2022

California Moves Closer to Being Third US State to Ban Cat Declawing

Here are some current statistics on cat declawing

Animal Protection Nonprofit Spearheading Efforts to Enact Legislation to End The Inhumane Practice throughout North America

I am so grateful that Assemblymember Carrillo shepherded this bill forward on behalf of innocent animals.”
— Jennifer Conrad, founder/director of the Paw Project.

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, May 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Paw Project – the leading animal protection nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the inhumane and crippling effects of cat declawing and advocating for anti-declaw legislation – proudly announces that the inhumane practice of declawing animals is one step closer to being banned in California.

On Thursday May 26, 2022, California Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo successfully pushed Assembly Bill (AB) 2606, which

will ban non-therapeutic declawing in California through the State Assembly. The vote was 52 to 2.

“I am so grateful that Assemblymember Carrillo shepherded this bill forward on behalf of innocent animals,” said Jennifer Conrad, DVM, a veterinarian and the founder/director of the Paw Project. “California cats deserve this protection. I am glad that California legislators see that.”

Declawing is a surgical procedure in which the animal’s toes are amputated at the last joint. The bone, not just the nail, is removed. It is analogous to cutting off the first knuckle on human fingers.

Approximately 23 million domestic cats (over 20 percent of all owned cats) are declawed in the United States. This highly invasive and painful surgery is performed primarily to protect furniture. It is widely recognized that declawing cats does not reduce health risks for humans with health issues. Studies have shown that declawed cats are more likely to bite and that bite wounds are more dangerous than scratches.

Declawing is already prohibited in the New York State and Maryland, 13 U.S. cities (including West Hollywood, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Monica), St. Louis County, and in eight of the 10 Canadian provinces. Anti-declaw legislation is currently being considered in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

The practice of declawing any cat already is illegal or considered unethical in most of the world, including the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway. Great Britain’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has declared declawing to be “unnecessary mutilation.”

In addition to the Paw Project and Alley Cat Allies, Humane Society of The United States, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, In Defense of Animals, Latino Alliance for Animal Care Foundation, Palo Alto Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, Democrats for the Protection of Animals, San Diego Humane Society and SPCA, SPCA-LA, San Francisco SPCA and Social Compassion in Legislation, and compassionate veterinarians from all over the world, support the bill.

The only opposition to the bill came from the veterinary trade organization, the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). They asserted that veterinarians must be able to declaw the cats of autistic children; this despite the scientific evidence that declawed cats bite much more often and much harder than their clawed counterparts. Veterinarians can make well over $1000/hour declawing cats.

California previously passed legislation to prohibit declawing of captive and wild exotic cats due to the Paw Project’s efforts. Veterinarians working with the nonprofit animal protection organization have developed and performed reparative/salvage surgery on lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, jaguars, and domestic cats that had been maimed by declawing –yielding dramatic results. Enjoying relief for the first time after years of suffering, cats that could only hobble a few agonizing steps before reconstructive surgery, now are able to leap, run and play as nature intended.

About The Paw Project
The Paw Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Conrad to educate the public about the painful and crippling effects of feline declawing, promote animal welfare through the abolition of the practice of declaw surgery, and rehabilitate cats that have been declawed through reparative surgery. As a result of its efforts, declawing has been banned in two states, eight Canadian Provinces and 14 cities and counties in the United States to date. For more information, visit www.PawProject.org.

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