
New York is one signature
away from becoming the first state in the country to ban cat declawing, a
practice advocates say serves no benefit to felines and is done typically out
of convenience.
The bill, which passed by a
wide margin Tuesday in the state's majority-Democrat Assembly and Senate, would
impose a US$1,000 fine on veterinarians who perform the procedure for
non-medical purposes.
That means pet owners in the
state would no longer be able to have their cats declawed for cosmetic,
aesthetic and other ostensible reasons.
One of several lawmakers to
champion the measure, Assembly woman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) was visibly
jubilant after the vote.
She has previously rallied
against declawing and condemned its invasive nature in a statement: "It is
not like getting a mani/pedi," she said. "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," she added.
Rosenthal and other
proponents of the bill say declawing, or onychectomy, can cause long-lasting
complications for cats. New York director for the Humane Society of the United
States Brian Shapiro, who advocated the legislation, explained the procedure is
not as simple as removing a cat's nail; it requires amputating the last bone
segment in a cat's toes.
He likened it to chopping off
the tip of a human finger at the first knuckle. The legislation is a
"great victory," he added.
Some estimate 25 percent of
cats in the United States are declawed, and Shapiro said veterinarians are
generally divided on the issue.
The New York Veterinary
Medical Society, for example, argues declawing should be allowed if a cat is
using its claws destructively, or if a potential scratch could pose health
risks to households containing people with weakened immune systems.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommends sanitation methods and selective pet
ownership over declawing.
The origins of declawing date
back to at least 1952, when the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
Association published a letter to the editor from Chicago veterinarian A.G.
Misener, who described the procedure as a "practical measure".
Speaking to The Washington
Post in 2017, Minnesota veterinarian Ron Gaskin said Misener's practice was
widely adopted across the United States - namely to keep cats from scratching
up furniture - despite a lack of scrutiny on the procedure.
"It was never investigated for long-term safety, or whether it generated pain later on in life," Gaskin said. "It was never researched that way."
Several cities in the United
States and the majority of Canadian provinces have banned declawing, according
to Rosenthal. The procedure is also outlawed in Britain, Germany, Austria,
Sweden and several other countries.
Acknowledging New York is
leading the way at the state level, Rosenthal said she hopes others will follow
their lead. Lawmakers in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and West Virginia are pushing to pass similar legislation.
The bill will now be
delivered to the desk of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D-N.Y.), who has indicated
he will review the measure before making a decision.
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