The Secretary of the Houston Humane Society is Still Performing 2 & 4 Paw Declaws at Her Houston Clinic
Dr Cynthia Rigoni is the Secretary of the Houston Humane Society.
Dr Cynthia Rigoni has been doing declaws for over 25 years. According to an employee at her clinic, she also has declawed her own dogs. More information below in our story.
In 1991, a cat owner came to Dr Cynthia Rigoni’s All Cats Veterinary Clinic in Houston, TX for just a neuter.
Dr Rigoni performed the neuter and then started to declaw the cat. On the third toe bone, she realized she was performing an unauthorized procedure but she kept declawing the cat and then notified the owners of the “error.”
According to the veterinary medical board paperwork below, she committed gross malpractice and her license was suspended for 2 years.
Houston Humane Society Declaws Cats. Guess Why.
“We do 4 or 5 a week, your cat should be fine in 15 days, and they are back to normal quickly.”
“we have older people whose skin gets real thin and their doctors tell them to get rid of their cats because one little scratch from their claws will just make a big gash so we declaw their kitties so they can keep them. 18 yrs old is the oldest cat that she’s declawed and we’ve never had any problems.”
“She (Dr Rigoni) wouldn’t do it (delcaws) if it caused long term health issues. Everyone has their own beliefs they consider that to be, she declaws almost all her cats. Do you want the front paws done or all four done?”
“She also does canine by the way, which very few people do. She taught herself, it’s a totally different method. They (dogs) can ruin walls by scratching and thing, drives her nuts. She taught herself how to do it. It’s a different technique. They don’t teach that in vet school. It’s not something we normally show.”