Thankful Thursday: New York State Bans Cat Declawing

From The Paw Project:

New York Is First State In US To Ban Declawing!

😹😹😹

Seriously, this is the first of many hopeful gains in the movement to end the practice of onychectomy, which removes all or part of the distal phalanges of cats.  Commonly called declawing, the surgery forces a cat to walk on the ends of their dismembered toe bones, which can lead to the lack of litter box usage, personality changes like aggression and biting, and the onset of arthritis and other skeletal problems caused by the off-balance gait that a cat is now forced to walk.  

Although there are some people who swear that their cats never had a lick of problems with being declawed, and think we anti-declawers are all alarmists and shamers, the real onus of this type of legislation is on the veterinary world.  They are the ones who 'sell' the surgery, without proper information given to cat parents, on the possible (and probable) ramifications to their feline housemembers.  

I live in Michigan, which apparently is the hotbed of declawing vets, according to research done by City The Kitty.  I am so very thankful for City, and The Paw Project, and other hard-working, cat-loving advocats who fight against the powerful veterinary lobbies. How can they say they do no harm, while performing such harsh surgeries?

What's right for the animal should be paramount, not that 'that's the way we've always done it', and 'if a kitten is declawed, it won't know what it's lost'.

Onward, and let's keep working to save the claws everywhere!

Paws Need Claws!
Manny shows off his toe beans

Let's Hop!