Jan. 11, 2021

Here are the veterinary organizations that recently did the humane and right thing and stopped allowing declawing in their accredited veterinary practices.

 

1)  Banfield Pet Hospitals– They banned declawing in all their hospitals in Jan. 2020.

Here’s why they said they stopped. “Every medical procedure supported by our practice has been put in place with the health and wellness of pets in mind and, based on this, we do not support the elective declawing (removal of normal digits) of any animal. Banfield’s declawing position

—————————————————————————————————–

2)  VCA Animal Hospitals- They banned declawing in all their hospitals in Feb. 2020.

Here’s why they said they stopped. “Every medical procedure supported by our veterinary practices has been put in place with the health and wellbeing of pets in mind and, based on this, we do not support the elective declawing of any animal in our veterinary practices.”

Here’s their full declawing position. VCA’s Declawing Position

 

———————————————————————————————————————–

3)  The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) –  AAFP announced on Dec. 16, 2020 that they will stop allowing declawing in their CAT FRIENDLY PRACTICES by July 2021.

Here’s their reason for stopping.. “Declawing (onychectomy) has been a contentious topic in the veterinary community. In 2017, the AAFP released a strongly opposing declawing as an elective procedure, and emphasizing the obligation of veterinarians to provide cat owners with education and alternatives.

As we continue to amplify our mission to support high standards of practice, continuing education, and evidence based medicine, we are proud to announce the end of elective declawing procedures in our Cat Friendly Practices®.

We’re in this together and excited to be moving feline medicine forward in a positive way! The AAFP has developed a robust Claw Friendly Educational Toolkit to provide resources to the veterinary community and support our Cat Friendly Practices’® decision not to declaw.   Link- AAFP Stopped Allowing Declawing

4) Mission Veterinary Partners (MVP)  They banned declawing in all their vet practices in March 2021.  

Their Chief Veterinary Officer sent our Exec. Director an email on March 14, 2021, after she reached out to them. This is one of the things he said, “While we have never mandated any medical protocols, we believe that in this instance it is shortsighted and we feel compelled to take a stance in order to ensure that we abide by one of our core values: to do the right thing. “

Here’s the full story. Please give MVP lots of accolades. MVP bans declawing


Veterinary Organizations and Associations that allow declawing in their accredited/certified animal hospitals.

WHO WILL BE THE 4TH ORGANIZATION THAT HAS THE COURAGE TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND PUT THE WELFARE OF INNOCENT CATS FIRST.

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA).  AAHA says in their position statement that they are strongly opposed to declawing and yet they allow this inhumane amputation procedure in their accredited animal hospitals. AAHA hasn’t updated their declawing position since 2015. AAHA Petition

Fear Free Pets-  This organization was started by Dr Marty Becker. He says he is completely opposed to declawing yet Fear Free Pets allows declawing in their Fear Free Certified Practices.  Fear Free Pets Petition

We also did a survey of 70 Fear Free Certified Practices and found that 30 of them declaw cats. Here’s the survey.

Fear Free Certified Practices declawing survey

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) (merged with Compassion First Veterinary Hospitals after being purchased by JAB Holding Company)– They are the largest private owner of 700 freestanding veterinary hospitals in the America. Their mission statement says: “To improve the comfort and well-being of pets by providing progressive and compassionate care.” Many of these veterinary hospitals declaw cats.

JAB Holding Company says their PURPOSE is, “JAB is dedicated to having its investments acting in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards.”

COMPASSION FIRST VET HOSPITALS –  They allow declawing in their vet hospitals.  Compassion-First is headquartered in Tinton Falls, NJ and owns 43 specialty and emergency vet hospitals in 12 states. Here’s an example from a Compassion First hospital, Red Bank Veterinary Hospitals in NJ, where they advertise their laser declawing on their website. UPDATE March 2021. Red Bank removed the “laser declawing” from their website.  Laser Declaw Listed NVA/Compassion First Petition

VetCor- They own 427 vet practices in 33 states. Many of their vet practices declaw cats. VetCor Petition