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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016
PARTING SHOT FROM EDWARD STRATTON
A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers
Smokey Bear made an appearance in Melanie Williams’ first-grade class at John Jacob Astor Elementary School in Astoria in May.
ODDITY
For cats, a right to bear claws
New York
could ban
declawing
of cats
By DAVID KLEPPER
Associated Press
A
LBANY, N.Y. — New
York would be the irst
state to ban the declaw-
ing of cats under a legisla-
tive proposal that has divided
veterinarians.
Several vets along with a
spokescat named Rubio came
to the state Capitol this week to
lobby for the ban. They say the
declawing procedure, which
involves cutting through bone,
tendon and nerves to ampu-
tate the irst segment of a cat’s
toes, is unnecessary and cruel.
Australia, Britain and several
European countries already
ban the practice. It’s also ille-
gal in Los Angeles and some
other California cities.
“It’s a disiguring, inhu-
mane and misguided proce-
dure,” said Eileen Jefferson,
an Ulster County veterinarian
who does not perform the pro-
cedure. She said about 25 per-
cent of cats will be declawed.
Rubio, a spokescat
While Jefferson and the
other vets discussed the bill at
a press conference in the Cap-
itol, Rubio roamed the room,
snifing the reporters and
occasionally offering a meow
as greeting. The 11-year-old
Abyssinian has his claws but
chose not to use them on the
journalists.
The state’s Veterinary Med-
ical Society opposes the legis-
lation, saying the surgical pro-
cedure can often save cats with
destructive scratching behav-
ior from being euthanized. In a
memo of opposition, the soci-
ety argues that declawing is a
decision best left to cat own-
ers and veterinarians and not
lawmakers.
“It is the veterinarian’s
obligation to provide cat own-
ers a complete education with
regard to normal scratching
behavior of cats, the procedure
itself, and potential risks to the
patient,” the society’s memo
reads. “Declawing of domestic
cats should be considered only
after attempts have been made
to prevent the cat from using
its claws destructively.”
Like amputation
The bill is before both
the Senate and Assembly,
but no vote has been sched-
uled. Assembly sponsor Linda
Rosenthal, a Manhattan Dem-
ocrat, says support is grow-
ing as more cat owners learn
the details of the procedure.
Unlike clipping nails in a
human, or even removing the
entire ingernail, declawing
a cat involves amputating the
irst segment of each toe on
each paw.
Supporters of the ban say
destructive clawing can often
be dealt with through nail
clipping, nail caps or scratch-
ing posts. And the vets lobby-
ing for the legislation on Tues-
day said that declawing a cat
can often lead to worse behav-
ior problems, including difi-
culty using a litter box or bit-
ing something disputed by the
veterinary society.
“In most cases declawing
is performed as a convenience
to the owner,” Rosenthal said.
“I’ve heard so many times: ‘I
have expensive furniture! I
have nice drapes!’ If your stan-
dard is ‘I need pristine furni-
ture,’ don’t get a cat.”
AP Photo/Mike Groll
A cat named Rubio walks in front of the podium during a news conference on Tuesday in Albany, N.Y. New York would
be the first state to ban declawing under a legislative proposal that has divided veterinarians.
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