AAHA publicly “strongly opposes” declawing but rewards AAHA hospitals that perform it.
Please sign our petition to AAHA. (No need to donate to change. org to sign it since they keep the money.) https://www.change.org/p/aaha-stop-putting-profits-over-the-welfare-of-cats-and-ban-declawing-in-your-hospitals
Here’s our shocking story that shows how AAHA puts profits over cats.
In a May 12, 2025 on their @AAHAhealthypet Facebook page post, they said that their AAHA 2025 Practice of the Year finalists are, “delivering gold-standard care and inspiring change in the profession.”
Please ask AAHA’s CEO and Chief Medical Officer if they consider declawing to be the gold standard in veterinary medicine. Emails- Garth.Jordan@aaha.org and Jessica.Vogelsang@aaha.org.
AAHA has these two statements on their website, “An AAHA accreditation is a strong indication that a veterinary practice delivers quality medicine – which positively impacts your patients, clients, and team and raises the bar for the entire veterinary profession.”
“Your Pet Deserves the Best. AAHA-accredited veterinary practices deliver the highest quality care for your pet.”
Here’s one of the 25 Practice of the Year finalists that even advertises their routine laser declawing services.
A May 27, 2025 sponsored Facebook Ad by AAHA said, “Join the gold standard of veterinary care! For 90+ years, we’ve set the pace.”
Actually THESE veterinary companies have set the pace by BANNING DECLAWING and are delivering gold standard veterinary care. VCA, Banfield, Fear Free Pets, American Association of Feline Practitioners, Mission Veterinary Partners, PetSmart, PetCo, Bond Vet, Ethos, Modern Animal, and Pet Vet Care Centers.
Despite AAHA’s public stance of being “strongly opposed” to declawing, a deeply contradictory picture emerges from their own actions—undermining the credibility of their position.
Out of the 17 general practice* finalists for AAHA’s 2025 Practice of the Year, according to employees who work there, nine perform declawing—a painful, unnecessary amputation procedure condemned by leading animal welfare and veterinary organizations.
(Two of these AAHA hospitals are NVA and NVA’s Medical Advisory Board is also strongly opposed to declawing and considers declawing inhumane according to info that was given us from NVA about their new 2025 declawing position. NVA quietly replaced their old declawing position on their website with this similar position around June 1, 2025.)
These finalists weren’t randomly selected.
They were handpicked by AAHA’s own practice consultants—the AAHA professionals who conduct detailed evaluations of each hospital. That means AAHA either knew these hospitals declaw cats and still chose to elevate them, or they didn’t care enough to check.
Either way, the outcome is a profound betrayal of their claimed ethics.
Also, AAHA insists it doesn’t tell veterinarians how to practice medicine, yet they enforce mandatory standards, such as banning non-anesthetic dental cleanings in 2013.
So why is declawing—the inhumane and cruel practice of amputating healthy toes—treated differently? The answer seems painfully clear: revenue.
If AAHA banned declawing outright, they risk losing a portion of their accredited hospitals that declaw cats, and with them, a major stream of income.
This shows AAHA is willing to put profits over the welfare of cats, while publicly claiming they strongly oppose declawing and stand for excellence and gold standard veterinary care.
So while they publicly condemn declawing, they continue to accredit—and even honor—clinics that perform it as they did in this 2025 Practice of the Year contest.
When AAHA declares that these finalists that perform declawing are “delivering gold standard care,” the message becomes disturbingly clear: in practice, they’re willing to equate this cruel and inhumane cat mutilation procedure with medical excellence.
That’s not leadership—it’s hypocrisy.
* Four of these AAHA hospitals are VCA and VCA banned declawing in 2020. Three are specialty/ER hospitals and don’t perform declawing. One is a guide dog school.
That leaves 17 general practice animal hospitals. That means half of them declaw cats.
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Here are the 25 finalists for AAHA’s 2025 Practice of the Year.
We wanted to see how they address declawing so our researchers made a short phone call and asked for the price of a neuter/declaw, what vets perform the declaws, if declawing is ok for a cat long term, and if they perform declaws regularly.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
The 9 AAHA hospitals that declaw cats are in red letters and the 16 AAHA hospitals that do not declaw cats are in green letters.
Four of these AAHA hospitals are VCA so they banned declawing in 2020. Three are specialty/ER hospitals and don’t perform declawing. One is a guide dog school.
That leaves 17 general practice animal hospitals and 53% of them declaw cats.
Animal Medical Center of Rome, Avon Lake Animal Clinic, Bayou City Veterinary Hospital, Beach Pet Hospital, Blue Springs Animal Hospital and Pet Resort, Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital, Countryside Veterinary Hospital ,Creekside Pet Care Center, Everhart Veterinary Medicine, Harbor Point Animal Hospital ,Heritage Oaks Animal Hospital, Iowa Veterinary Specialties, IronHorse VetCare ,Memorial-610 Hospital for Animals, Moore Animal Hospital ,North Shore Family Pet Hospital , Radnor Veterinary Hospital, River’s Edge Animal Hospital ,Stonebrook Family Pet Clinic ,VCA Alaska Pet Care Animal Hospital ,VCA East Anchorage Animal Hospital, VCA Peone Pines Animal Hospital ,VCA Westboro Animal Hospital, Veterinary Specialty Hospital Sorrento Valley @Vincent Stabile Center
1) Animal Medical Center of Rome. GA.
The employee said that they do not perform declawing. They said that most clinics don’t declaw anymore because it’s not a medically necessary procedure, it’s not for the health of the cat, and it’s considered animal cruelty.
Here’s a screenshot from a post on their facebook page.
2) Avon Lake Animal Clinic. Avon Lake, OH
https://avonlakeanimalclinic.com/general-surgery/
This is a National Veterinary Associates (NVA.com) clinic. . (In March 2025, NVA’s Medical Advisory Board said they strongly oppose declawing and consider it inhumane in the draft of their new declawing position. NVA took out the word inhumane from it and quietly posted this new position on their website but they still allow declawing.)
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee said you have to speak to a doctor for the cost of a declaw.
The employee said Dr Haddad and Dr Lamb perform their declaws.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said, “Yes, absolutely.”
3) Bayou City Veterinary Hospital. Houston, TX.
The employee said that they do not declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said that it’s not something that’s ethical and is being discontinued in the veterinary field. Researcher asked if it’s bad for a cat and the employee said it is and it’s like cutting off the tips of their fingers.
4) Beach Pet Hospital. Virginia Beach, VA.
Declawing was banned in VA in 2024.
The employee said that they don’t declaw cats because it is illegal and will only declaw a cat for a medical reason for the cat.
5) Blue Springs Animal Hospital and Pet Resort. Blue Springs, MO
Here’s the link to Blue Springs routine declawing info. https://www.bluespringsanimalhospital.com/hospital/surgery
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee said that a neuter/declaw is $692.50 for the front feet.
A neuter/ 4 declaw is $830 and they keep the cats for 2 days after the declaws.
They said that all of their doctors do neuters and declaws. Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term from the declaw. The employee said that you can discuss that with the doctor and they don’t recommend declaws but they still do them. They said it’s a personal decision.
They said that they use a laser. Researcher asked if a laser is better and the employee said yes, it is less painful and helps speed up the recovery.
The researcher asked if they do declaws regularly and the employee said, “Yes, very regularly. There’s usually at least one a week, if not multiple.”
They said that a declaw is not super comfortable for the cat and said usually a lot of times their doctors recommend alternatives before going straight to a declaw but understand that sometimes it’s the only option.
(Studies show that laser declawing is not less painful and does not help speed up recovery and in fact has more complications than the scalpel declaw. #8 in our facts vs myths section. )
6) Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital, Gardnerville, NV
This is a National Veterinary Associates (NVA.com) clinic. . (In March 2025, NVA’s Medical Advisory Board said they strongly oppose declawing and consider it inhumane in the draft of their new declawing position. NVA took out the word inhumane from it and quietly posted this new position on their website but they still allow declawing.)
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee said a 2 paw declaw/neuter is around $860.88- $1356.88 and a 4 paw declaw/neuter is $914- $1400.10.
The employee said that they have 14 doctors and only 5 of them will perform declaws.
Dr Saponas, Dr Mannan, Dr Warner, Dr Nelson, and Dr Ross do their declaws and said some will only declaw 2 paws and some will declaw all four paws.
The researcher asked if the cats are ok long term afterwards and the employee said, “A lot of doctors are going away from doing declaws. It’s just something that people are moving away from.”
They said as far as they know the cats are alright but that it could inhibit their life if they get out and that’s why a lot of people are against declawing because they want the cat to be able to protect themselves.
7) Countryside Veterinary Hospital . Chelmsford, MA
They do not declaw cats.
8) Creekside Pet Care Center Keller, TX
The employee said that a neuter/declaw is around $1330, the cat needs to stay two days, and they said they only perform 2 paw declaws.
9) Everhart Veterinary Medicine. Baltimore, MD
They do not declaw cats. (Maryland became the 2nd state to ban declawing in 2022.)
10) Harbor Point Animal Hospital Mooresville, NC
They do not declaw cats.
11) Heritage Oaks Animal Hospital. San Antonio, TX
They said that you need an exam first to get a cost for a declaw.
12) Iowa Veterinary Specialties . Des Moines, IA
They do not perform declawing.
13) IronHorse VetCare. Dublin, CA
They do not perform declawing.
14) Memorial-610 Hospital for Animals . Houston, TX.
They do not declaw cats.
15) Moore Animal Hospital. Fort Collins, CO
They do not perform declawing.
16) North Shore Family Pet Hospital. Northbrook, IL
The employee said they can’t give out a cost for the procedures and said they have one doctor who does their declaws and you have to have an appointment with the doctor first.
17) Radnor Veterinary Hospital . Wayne, PA.
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee said that they typically don’t do declaws and asked if the declaw is for a medical reason. They said the doctor needs to discuss it with you and if the doctor feels a declaw is appropriate they will move forward with it. Researcher asked when is a declaw appropriate and the employee said if there’s a medical reason or if it’s in the best interests of the cat and the employee didn’t know what those reasons were. They said it’s an amputation of the knuckles, it’s very painful, and not a quick procedure and said that’s why they need to give a consult with the veterinarian first.
18) River’s Edge Animal Hospital. Rock Hill, SC.
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee asked if they want the front paws. They said a neuter/declaw is around $887-$912. They said that you need a consult for a 4 paw declaw. Another employee said that they will only declaw if the cats are under 5 days old (same for docking tails) and said that the declawing age varies in other vet clinics.
The employee recommended Ebenezer Animal Hospital in Rock Hill which is also an AAHA hospital. The employee at Ebenezer said that they do not declaw cats and consider a declaw to be cruel and inhumane treatment.
19) Stonebrook Family Pet Clinic . Frisco, TX
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee said they only do “fronts.” Researcher asked why they don’t do 4 paw declaws and the employee said that if they do the two paw declaw and happen to get outside then the cat has some sort of defense.
A neuter/declaw is $1200.
They said that Dr Buffington, their owner, is their declawing who uses a cautery and said that the cautery is kind of similar to when doctors burn off skin tags or moles on humans. Researcher asked if that’s ok for a cat and the employee said it’s a lot less painful than the scalpel and it helps cauterize the vessels so they don’t bleed as much but there’s still a chance of bleeding.
Researcher asked if Dr Buffington does declaws regularly and the employee said that he does them if someone asks for the declaw and they try to educate people on the disadvantages of declawing and you have to have that conversation with him. And said he will do them after he’s talked to the cat owner if they want.
20) VCA Alaska Pet Care Animal Hospital
VCA banned declawing in all their veterinary hospitals.
21) VCA East Anchorage Animal Hospital
VCA banned declawing in all their veterinary hospitals.
22) VCA Peone Pines Animal Hospital
VCA banned declawing in all their veterinary hospitals.
23) VCA Westboro Animal Hospital
VCA banned declawing in all their veterinary hospitals.
24) Veterinary Specialty Hospital Sorrento Valley. CA
They are an Ethos Veterinary clinic and do not declaw cats.
25) Vincent Stabile Center.
“ The Seeing Eye, the first guide dog school in America, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of people who are blind through the use of Seeing Eye® dogs.”
They do not declaw cats.
More Details.
Here’s more info from this story that talks about how AAHA nominates their finalists for Practice of the Year.
These are quotes from Aimee Potter, an Accreditation Specialist with AAHA, and a member of the committee that worked on redesigning the process of how they pick the AAHA finalists for Practice of the Year.
“They’ll be nominated by their AAHA practice consultants, so those practice consultants are the ones that go into their practices and do the AAHA evaluations.”
“One of the ideas was having nominations by those of us in AAHA that are in the practices, that have seen the great work they’re doing.”
“That’s why we accredited practices to make sure they’re practicing excellent medicine and following the standards. ” https://www.aaha.org/newstat/publications/want-to-become-aahas-accredited-practice-of-the-year-heres-what-the-aaha-team-is-looking-for/
Here are all of AAHA’s consultants. https://www.aaha.org/about-accreditation/aaha-staff-partners/
SO THAT MEANS THE AAHA CONSULTANT HAS BEEN IN THESE AAHA HOSPITALS, KNOWS ALL ABOUT THEIR CLINIC ,AND SHOULD KNOW IF THEY DECLAW CATS OR NOT.