July 12, 2017

I received this sad note from an awesome woman who really cares about the welfare of cats. It’s really sad that this cat cruelty and abuse is happening in around 80% of veterinary practices in America. It’s hard to believe that all those declawing vets took an oath to EASE the suffering in animals yet are causing it by amputating the toe bones and claws in around 5000 cats a DAY in America.

Emily didn’t fail.

All the declawing vets are the ones who have failed. They aren’t honoring the noble mission of their profession and that is to heal and help all animals. WE shouldn’t have to be fighting so hard to end this inhumane, harmful, and cruel procedure. The veterinary associations should be doing everything they can to end declawing but they are doing everything they can to keep it alive and well in vet clinics and are stopping our anti-declawing bills so their vets can keep mutilating and harming cats by declawing them.

The veterinary organizations like American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) should stop allowing declawing at their “Cat Friendly” practices. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) should NOT allow declawing at their “Standard of Excellence” vet hospitals because declawing is BELOW the standard of care. But instead they don’t want to lose the memberships of their declawing vets who won’t stop because they like the money that declawing brings them. It is all appalling and shameful.

When we call them out on their unethical ways and wrongdoings, they play the cyber bullying victim card and bring up the suicide rates in the vet profession. Here’s a novel idea. Maybe stop doing such a mutilating, sadistic, and barbaric medieval amputation procedure to cats and that might take away some of the dark clouds that follow a lot of these declawing vets.

Here is Emily’s note.


 

Hi City and Mom!
I’m a huge fan and follower of you and your work and I love what you are doing.  I’ve bought a calendar and book [and my cats must have smelled City on them, they loved the package haha] and a shirt and I love it.
But I feel like I have failed you.  I took one of our stray kitties to the vet the other day, he is an outdoor kid and got into a fight or something and had to have an abscess drained.  Luckily, I was able to get him in right away.
 So as my husband and I were in line to be checked in, a kid [probably early 20’s or so] came in carrying a Calico cat.  I laughed and told him he was brave not to have her in a carrier and he said that she clawed him up, so he was getting her declawed.
 My blood literally ran cold.
 My husband could see the attitude shift in me.  I stood up straight and gave the kid a look that could have killed.  The cat was shedding all over [likely from stress] and had a terrible dandruff problem.  The kid himself didn’t look overly clean [and I’m not judging his appearance as a whole, don’t get me wrong!!] and all I could think was “he’s maiming this beautiful girl, she’s probably going back to a filthy environment and if she claws this bad now, she’s going to be a biter”
 I almost offered him cash money for the cat.  I opened my mouth to say something and I couldn’t even form words.
 We left our kitty there and drove home.  I cried the entire way.
 I hugged our three babies [and our other outside strays – it’s amazing how people move and “forget” their cats, but not their family members…] and promised them I’d never harm them, even if they do claw on me and our furniture.
 I am still sick over it.
I know this vet declaws, I’ve actually gotten into an argument with the staff on the phone before because of it.  I HATE that we don’t have any anti declaw vets here.  I have called every vet I could find online within a 50 mile radius to try and find one without any luck.  I’ve even emailed the folks at Paw Project and Declaw.com websites and there is ONE in my state [Idaho] and it’s 12 hours away.  I even called them to see if they had suggestions, and they didn’t.
I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard spot.  Our cats need vet care, and we will provide it regardless of cost.  I just hate that I’m supporting a vet that took an oath to protect and nurture, knowing he also maims cats.
 I’m so angry that I firsthand witnessed someone that willingly took his cat in to have her knuckles chopped off and will be in forever pain.
 I’m angry that I couldn’t even form a sentence to educate him on what he was doing.  I seriously feel like I’ve failed.
 Part of me knows deep down that I would have caused a scene and been kicked out and kitty wouldn’t have been cared for.  The other part of me is mad I didn’t take the chance.
I don’t know that anything can be done from this, but going forward, should I encounter this again, I’ll try to keep my emotions in check.  I just needed to tell someone, who would totally understand, how I’m feeling.
Thank you for listening and for everything you guys do.  You ARE making a difference!
Love,
Emily and Mjaldr, Pandora & Thrall [who will always keep their claws, regardless of how many times they smack me awake]