The Paw Project, an animal protection nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the inhumane and crippling effects of cat declawing and advocating for anti-declaw legislation, is praising VCA Animal Hospitals for the decision to stop offering elective declawing in their more than 1,000 hospitals throughout the U.S. and Canada.
According to a company spokesperson, “Effective immediately, we are joining VCA Canada and all of other components of Mars Veterinary Health by ending elective declawing and encouraging healthy alternatives.”
Banfield Pet Hospital, another veterinary clinic corporation operated by Mars Veterinary Health, stopped declawing in January 2020.
Declawing is already prohibited in 10 US cities, the state of New York, and in 7 of the 10 Canadian provinces.
Anti-declaw legislation is currently being considered in 14 states, including California, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
It is estimated that 23 million domestic cats are declawed in the United States, this highly invasive and painful surgery performed primarily to protect furniture. Declawing is a surgical procedure during which the animal’s toes are amputated at the last joint. A portion of the bone, not just the nail, is removed. It would be similar to cutting off the first knuckle on the human hand.
The Paw Project, the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, Alley Cat Allies, and veterinarians all over the world oppose the procedure. Recently published studies have shown that declawed cats are more likely to bite.
About The Paw Project:
The Paw Project was 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.
The Paw Project (https://pawproject.org/
Source: https://www.prlog.org/12813163-the-paw-project-applauds-vcas-humane-decision-to-stop-declawing.html
Featured Image: Front of brochure from the Paw Project. To download the brochure, visit: https://pawproject.org/pdfs-resources/PawsRackBrochure_ltr_210316A.pdf
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