I received a note from an Australian woman and her spokescat, Patches, after I posted this sad story today, on Easter, about 6 yr old Henry. Sadly, Henry was declawed on all four paws and was surrendered to a shelter this week.
UPDATE!! I just got word that Henry had a very special Easter present and someone adopted him from this shelter.
(Veterinarians in Australia honor their oath to help and heal ALL animals and they do NOT declaw cats)
Here is her note-
Dear City,
Any veterinarian who does this (declawing) should be stripped of their doctorate, their practices should be shut down, massive fines need to be applied. Named and shamed, the owners especially, should be fined as well massive amounts of money and banned from ever owning another animal as long as they live .
They are disgraceful and pathetic and should be disgusted in themselves, the price these poor cats pay for the aesthetic pleasure that these owners apparently get is beyond unbalanced and completely unnecessary.
The fact this practice is still occurring in 2016 is a sad reflection on the human race, although it doesn’t surprise me, it makes me realise that greed, stupidity and lack of compassion and humanity are still a massive part of human nature…A veterinarians job is to be a voice for the voiceless…To defend these animals, to nurse them back to health, to nurture and care for them… Any of them who choose to declaw these cats should not ever consider themselves to be true veterinarians…To me they are nothing but puppets, steeped within the greed and corruption of the true valiant profession, they choose to undermine what the true meaning of their occupation is and always should have been..
The powers that be who sit on the boards of the veterinarian association, i have no idea how they sleep at night knowing they are ultimately responsible for the mutilation of thousands of defenseless cats, they also surely understand, the majority of these poor defenceless babies are being either dumped or euthanized…HOW IS THAT ALLOWED???? How is that considered an elective option??
You get a cat, you take it claws and all….or DONT GET A CAT???? pretty simple really… I see the way to stop this as simple, a register of animals who have had it done to them, with the name of the veterinarian who did it and the owners names as well, they hide in the shadows because they know its wrong, lets give them the limelight and stop letting them hide…. they wanted to perform this barbaric procedure and had no hesitation in doing it to line their pockets and to ensure the owner got what they wanted, so lets get them the notoriety they seem to hide away from…
As to the pathetic, disgraceful owners who allow this atrocity to be inflicted on their cats, they should be put on a registry that ensures they will never be allowed to own another animal as long as they are alive… anyone who would inflict this much pain and anguish onto another living creature most certainly doesnt deserve the right to be a pet owner ever again..
As to anyone who would ask why the harshness? Why when there is all the horrible things going on in the world would we want this to happen?? My answer to that is again a simple one, if we cant show compassion for the fragility of an animals comfort, for the unjust and cruel way these beautiful babies rights and their lives are being destroyed.. If we cant take a stand when we see the immorality of a corrupt practice that is being allowed to continue unchecked right under our noses under the guise of “declawing” then we are never going to be any better or any different to who we are right now…
Animal cruelty of any kind is abhorrent, animal cruelty for the sake of greed is unacceptable and should be punished…
I would take Henry if he wasn’t in America, I’m from Australia and he looks like my cat Patches.
Patches and Leonie
One of the main excuses that pro-declaw veterinarians use for declawing is that it keeps a cat in a home instead of having it surrendered to a shelter or euthanized.
Well, that’s just a weak excuse because there are thousands of declawed kitties like Henry who were cruelly declawed by these vets and cat owners and then thrown away. Some have biting and litter box avoidance issues due to the declaws. Some were just thrown away for other lame reasons.
Where are those same pro-declaw vets when they could be helping to find these relinquished declawed kitties homes? No where to be found.
They just care about the money that goes in their pockets for doing this mutilating procedure. #Greed
These same cat owners who declaw their kitties because they are lazy and don’t want to take the time to work with their beloved cats, and who put the welfare of their beloved sofa over everything, are the same ones who are throwing them away to shelters. These poor declawed kitties often have issues that are harder to fix than just their normal scratching behavior issues.
WAKE UP PRO-DECLAW PEOPLE IN THE VETERINARY PROFESSION!
There is never a reason to declaw a cat and if a cat owner takes the time to use the humane alternatives and deterrents. Here are many useful stories that will help cat owners with cats with scratching issues. Helpful advice for scratching issues
PLEASE SIGN THE OFFICIAL PETITION TO BAN DECLAWING IN NY NY Bill to Ban Declawing
AND PLEASE TRY TO TAKE YOUR PETS TO A VETERINARY PRACTICE THAT DOESN’T DECLAW KITTIES! You can find them on my website citythekitty.com , pawproject.org, and declaw.com
MORE ABOUT HENRY
6 yr old Henry is one of the many sad examples as to why we must ban this inhumane procedure. An unethical veterinarian declawed him on all four paws. No matter what the issue was, this cat owner should NEVER have asked to have all of Henry’s toes amputated and this horrible vet should NEVER have done it.
Then the owner cruelly threw him away and now he’s sitting in the OC Animal Care facility waiting to be either euthanized or rescued.
NO cat should ever have this happen to them and Henry should be enjoying his days in a loving home instead of this inhumane situation.
We must not accept this mutilating procedure anymore. No if, ands, or buts…
ALL veterinarians MUST stop doing this inhumane surgery and start honoring their oath to just heal and help animals. Shame on them for acquiescing to cat owners who request declaws.
PLEASE stop taking your business to vets who do this terrible procedure on cats!!!!!
These unethical vets say they MUST declaw cats because it keeps them in homes. Wrong. News flash pro-declaw “doctors” of vetmed, it doesn’t keep a cat in a home and if you really cared about that, you all would be helping to rescue all the declawed cats in shelters/rescues in America.
Most pro-declaw vets don’t want to take the time to counsel their cat owner clients on the humane alternatives and how bad declawing is for a cat and it’s easier for them to just amputate toes and pocket the $$ that this evil procedure brings them.
Shame on these “doctors” who took joined the noble profession of vetmed be be advocates for animals and are harming so many cats with this terrible procedure.
All veterinarians who declaw cats are an embarrassment to the veterinary profession!