“We are fiercely against declaw,” emails Tanya Hilgendorf, president and CEO of the Humane Society of Huron Valley. “But we didn’t create this bill.”
She’s referring to House Bill 4674, which would make Michigan the third state to ban the declawing of cats. While HSHV is supporting it, the bill “was introduced by Representative Jimmie Wilson Jr. from Ypsilanti, who is a big animal lover,” writes Hilgendorf. He consulted HSHV on the language.
According to cliniciansbrief.com, about 14.4 million cats undergo declawing each year. Most owners “are trying to keep the cat from shredding furniture, or from being able to scratch other pets or
children—and they are too nervous or just unwilling to cut their nails at home,” emails veterinarian Brandi Truesdell-Smith of All Creatures Animal Clinic.
“Many people just don’t understand what declaw means,” Hilgendorf emails. “This is an invasive surgery, where part of the toe is amputated. I am sure you can imagine that it would be quite painful, and for a long time, if we cut off part of your fingers and toes. Effective analgesics to eliminate a cat’s pain after declawing do not exist.”
One staunch opponent is the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association. Its president-elect, in an interview earlier this year, called the bill an infringement on “decisions that should be made between a vet, who undergoes years of rigorous training, and a pet owner.”
But Truesdell-Smith and other veterinarians support the ban. She says that many vets have long preferred to educate cat owners “to cut nails at home, or make the time to bring them in—especially since it is getting more difficult to find a veterinarian willing to perform the procedure.”
Wilson’s bill would prohibit declawing except for therapeutic purposes. Violators could face fines of as much as $5,000 or even criminal prosecution.
According to Hilgendorf, “studies show declawed cats are four times more likely to become aggressive and bite, and seven times more likely not to use the litter box appropriately,” she writes. “People usually don’t want to live with cats who bite and don’t use the litter box,” so they “relinquish their beloved pets to shelters or abandon them outside, making them homeless … We are able to adopt out them eventually, but it is a big investment that most shelters don’t or can’t make.”
