A new bill – that makes it illegal to declare cats – has been passed by New York’s Legislature and is now headed to the desk of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. His representatives said he will review the bill before deciding if he will sign it. If signed, New York will be the first state in the U.S.A. to make it illegal to declaw a cat.
It is already an illegal procedure in 39 countries, including Israel, Switzerland, England, (much of Europe actually) as well as in the cities Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver. The surgery involves amputating a cat’s toes back to the first knuckle. Unlike human nails, a cat’s claws are attached to the bone. That is why the only way to declaw a feline is by a veterinarian slicing through tendon and nerves to remove the last segment of bone in a cat’s toes. This new bill would subject veterinarians to $1,000 fines for performing the operation.
The new bill isn’t actually new. It was first introduced years ago. It slowly gained momentum as more lawmakers came out in support of it. The day it was passed by the legislature was the first time the measure has gone to a vote in either the Senate or Assembly. Cuomo and the majority of lawmakers in both houses of the legislature are Democrats.
The primary supporters of the ban include animal welfare advocates, some cat owners, and some veterinarians, who argue the practice is cruel and barbaric. They are confident that other states will follow with their own bans. The bill’s sponsor in the state assembly, New York Democrat Linda Rosenthal said that “New York prides itself on being first”. “This will have a domino effect,” she said.
Rosenthal called declawing of cats “a cruel and unnecessary surgical procedure that has no place in modern veterinary medicine.” She said, “I’m confident that 2019 is the year New York will become the first state in the nation to ban cat declawing.” She also said that New Jersey, Rhode Island, and West Virginia are all considering the legislation to ban cat declawing as well.
However, some do oppose the ban. For example, The New York State Veterinary Medical Society had opposed it arguing that declawing should be allowed as a last resort for felines that won’t stop scratching furniture or humans – or when the cat’s owner has a weakened immune system, putting them at greater risk of infection from a scratch.
The society said in a memo opposing the legislation that “medical decisions should be left to the sound discretion of fully trained, licensed and state supervised professionals.” Although, the bill does state that veterinarians could still perform the procedure for medical reasons, such as infection or injury. Therefore, society’s opposition is a weak debate.
Brian Shapiro, state director for the Humane Society, said that “the declawing of cats is an inhumane convenience surgery that can lead to painful complications with serious health effects.”
Rosenthal added:
It is not like getting a mani/pedi. It’s a brutal surgical procedure. The days when this procedure is cavalierly offered for the convenience of the owners to protect couches and curtain are numbered.
