PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION TO THE AVMAAVMA Petition
January 10, 2016
Are they hypocrites, cyber bullies,or just ignorant? I can’t decide. What do you think?
I am a medium sized orange tabby who’s had a rough couple of months.
I was canned from my job at Friskies and then I got really sick with some sort of dizzying vestibular problem.
Then my mom was picked on by the very big and powerful veterinary organization, the AVMA, who accused us of cyber bullying them in the America’s Favorite Veterinarian contest.
I’m just trying to keep kitty paws healthy and happy by ending declawing. Why do they call me such horrible names and want to shun me?
What has the world come to when a kitty can’t use his fame to protect other kitties?
My mom’s not “targeting” veterinarians, she’s shining light on some pro-declaw veterinarians who are putting out propaganda, lies, and unethical information about declawing that is misleading cat owners and causing great harm to many cats.
These posts aren’t attacks. Her phone calls aren’t threatening. Her emails aren’t the least bit threatening or insulting. She is simply trying to inspire veterinarians who took an oath and promised to ease the suffering in animals, to stop performing this unnecessary and mutilating surgery on cats and who are CAUSING lots of suffering and pain in cats.
The AVMA sent one of my mom’s private emails to the veterinary associations in each state in America.
Does this “below the belt” move mean they condone posting private emails publicly even if it shows the truth on how one of their own semi-famous veterinarians, Dr Andy Roark, made up a story about being cyber bullied? Playing the victim
Here are a couple of the posts that ran in their newsletters about us.
FROM the IVMA Newsletter..
FROM the MVMA Newsletter….
Here is the specific information about the vet practice that my mom talked about in that email that she sent to this AVMA PR guy, Michael San Filippo, who is the Senior Media Relations Specialist with the American Veterinary Medical Association, msanfilippo@avma.org, to simply let him know that one of his AVMA vets in Kansas was putting out unethical and misleading information about declawing.
My mom did NOT post the name of this AVMA vet or the name of her practice in this facebook post on my page.
So how could this vet have been cyber bullied? The AVMA knew this yet still chose to send out this email to the vet associations in America.
Here is the actual facebook post facebook post
A little back story on this 23 yr member veterinarian in Kansas.
As my mom always does, she respectfully reached out to this vet to ask her about her “special” declaw technique.
She also tried to respectfully inspire her to honor her oath to heal animals and help us end this inhumane procedure by educating her clients about the humane alternatives.
This vet said that she declaws cats because there is a big demand from her clients to do so.
My mom asked other very accomplished veterinarians about this and they all said that this is not a special declaw technique and it causes the same negative consequences in cats.
So to also check up on how her practice addresses declawing she called a couple times to ask to get her cat declawed.
Not once when you call to ask for a declaw, 4 or 2 paw, at this practice, do they mention any humane alternatives or counsel clients to address declawing with the “last resort” approach, as the AVMA recommends.
They even say that they do cats up to 12 yrs old. They say that the cats that are heavier on their feet take a little longer to heal, but most are back to themselves in a week and they are ok. They recover so nicely by this technique the receptionist reassures you. They’ve done plenty over the last 20 yrs.
After my mom sent that letter to this Michael San Filippo, Senior Media Relations Specialist of the AVMA, this vet changed her website and this is what it said.
AND after my mom posted the first post on my facebook page this vet emailed my mom and said ,
“I’d like to remind you Lori, cyber bullying is a crime.”
How is it “cyber bullying” when my mom didn’t post her name or the name of her practice?
So the AVMA, instead of reaching out to all these veterinary associations in America and reminding them about the AVMA’s “last resort” policy, and to counsel cat owners on the humane alternatives for scratching issues and inform them on how harmful declawing is to do to a cat, they play the victim and try to instill this cyber bullying, whiny mindset in all the veterinarians throughout America.
Declawing Veterinarians playing the victim game
My mom and I aren’t “targeting” or attacking anyone. These vets that she does posts about on my faceb00k pages aren’t simply “offering declawing.”
They are promoting it in unethical ways, they are offering coupons, they are lying about it being “gentle, pain free, good for a cat, beneficial to a cat, etc”. These are “doctors” who took an oath to heal who say laser declawing is a “gift that keeps on giving.” They offer it up with $75 declaw specials on their marquee. The have kitten declaw plans and say it is for their wellness. They declaw kitties automatically when they get them in for adoption because they say it gets a cat in a home better. Yet near all of these pro-declaw vets practices who say they do this mutilating procedure because their clients ask for it and it keeps a cat in a home, there are hundreds of declawed kitties in shelters after their lazy and selfish owners threw them away.
These are the worst of the worst who declaw cats on all 4 paws with no questions asked and who are an embarrassment to your noble profession. I would think that you wouldn’t condone those kind of unethical and false ways of putting out information that completely misleads cat owners to get them amputate their poor kitties toes so that these vets can make more money. And they do not practice the AVMA’s “last resort” recommendation for declawing.
Why can’t cats’ lives matter more to them than greed and why don’t they care about their “last resort” declawing stand instead of worrying about alienating their membership?
Why can’t they see my mom and I are just trying to help save kitties from unnecessarily being tortured and disabled and why aren’t they helping us instead of trying to STOP us?
Why are they trying to ruin my good name and reputation?
***** Disclaimer- One person sent me an email saying that I could have reached out to the AVMA with a less threatening tone.
The AVMA has put out lies about City the Kitty and false statements regarding my approach to posts and spreading awareness. I have never once posted or released anything that wasn’t completely factual and on website.
I have never threatened, attacked, harassed, or cyber bullied a veterinarian or the AVMA or any other veterinary association.
I reached out to Michael San Filippo on Sept 3, 2015 in a phone call and left a voice mail, to see if the AVMA wanted to comment on the case of the 30 yr member AVMA vet who talked a couple who were first time cat owners out of using SoftPaws and told them that declawing was a standard and common procedure and their cats would be fine. Due to complications in the declaws on these owners three cats, they all have had to have all or some of their paws amputated.
On Sept 4, Mr Filippo sent me an email asking what can he help me with.
I sent him back the story and asked for a comment. He never returned my email.
Despite not getting the courtesy of a response from Mr Filippo, I continued to give him a heads up of all the posts I did on City the Kitty’s facebook pages that involved his AVMA vets addressing declawing in unethical ways as I do with the AAHA and AAFP.
This email that he and the AVMA sent to all the veterinary associations in each state is one of the many that I sent to him that was simply making him aware that his veterinarians were putting out this kind of information.
And for those who say I should try to “partner” with the AVMA, AAHA, or AAFP.
Last year I tried for months to ask them to collaborate with me and do innovative and inspiring campaigns to teach cat owners how to use scratchers and train their cats and to inspire veterinarians to do the same. I tried to inspire them that they would be heroes to the cat world. All three of the big associations, AVMA, AAHA, and AAFP never returned my emails about that. They didn’t care. They only care about keeping their due paying members when it comes to this cause. They ALL could make a difference and be a part of ending this horrific thing NOW but they aren’t.
This post is in honor of my friends Teeger, Abby, and Ryder who were declawed by a 30 yr member AVMA/AAFP veterinarian at an AAHA hospital in May 2015. This AVMA vet talked the first time cat owners out of using soft paws and said that declawing is a standard and common procedure and their cats would be fine. Due to complications from all the declaws, all cats have had most or some of their paws amputated.
