Please Help Me Inspire St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center to Support the NJ Anti-Declawing Bill

Maybe all of you can help me inspire St Hubert’s to support this important cat protection bill (without any bad amendments), the way that North Shore Animal League did for the bill in NY, without any amendments:

Please let St Hubert’s know how much you appreciate all they’ve done to re-home so many cats and kittens, as well as TNR programs for community cats, and we know that they are against cat declawing (it’s in their Positions Statement) … so why won’t they support the anti-declaw bill that was passed by the NJ State Full Assembly?

Alternative Declawing Facts By Two Prominent New Jersey Vets

Dr Jose Pla is the vet who does their declaws. They advertise their laser declaws on their facebook pages, their employees say that Dr Pla performs declaws, “all the time”, ” Dr Beeber says that a cat will be ok from being declawed, they post photos of declawed cats and promote their laser declaw, and they charge $875 for their laser declaws and will even do them on older cats.

Amputating 10 Cat Toes Is No More Painful Than A Neuter – NJVMA SpokesVet

When cats start walking on their balls then we will start believing the NJVMA’s spokesvet Dr Yurkus and his animal hospital that declawing isn’t more painful than neutering.

Meanwhile, the American Association of Feline Practitioners’ policy on declawing states:

“Physically, regardless of the method used, onychectomy causes a higher level of pain than spays and neuters. Patients may experience both adaptive and maladaptive pain; in addition to inflammatory pain, there is the potential to develop long-term neuropathic or central pain if the pain is inadequately managed during the perioperative and healing periods.” [AAFP Policy Statement on Declawing, 2007.]

The Painful Truth About Declawing

To put these all this in perspective, there are, more or less, 80 million pet cats in the U.S. At least 20% are declawed (estimates range from 20-45%), which is 16,000,000 cats. If even only 5% have long-term painful complications (and the number is likely far higher), that’s still 800,000 cats with known chronic pain, obvious pain.
How many is too many to suffer?
Clearly, veterinarians as a profession have failed to keep up with modern medicine, failed to govern themselves, and failed to understand the universal, serious, and potentially lifetime pain they are causing cats by declawing. Sadly, there is no mechanism to enforce changes in the profession.
Therefore, legislation is necessary to stop the cruel and unnecessary practice of declawing.

NJVMA Spokesvet Dr Mike Yurkus Defends Cat Declawing With Big Fat Lies To Legislators

Dr Mike Yurkus, NJVMA board member, said, “It is incorrect that the last bone of the finger is removed. It is the nail bed. The claw bed is removed and the tendons are detached. Bone is not removed. We do not cut bone.”

FACT- Declawing is always the amputation of the last bone that the cat’s claw is attached to. Many of the New Jersey veterinarians, including one of the NJVMA board members practice Oradell Animal Hospital, in my study, uses the old school clipper method, which often cuts just part of the bone off and the cats are left with painful bone chips in their paws.

INVESTIGATIVE STUDY WITH 110 RANDOM VETERINARY PRACTICES IN NEW JERSEY

Of the 97 vets who perform declaws in this study, 72% said they do them frequently, commonly, often, routinely, or on a regular basis and more than one a month.
21% said they just do around one a month, very few or not often.
7% wouldn’t say how many they do.
Only 12% offered or suggested alternatives or asked why the cat owner wanted to declaw his or her cat.

I’m Sorry

Dear friend,

I’m sorry.

Yesterday you sent me a note and spoke from your heart. You told me how you feel.

You’re probably not alone. I know you meant well, but it hurt.