Story published May 21, 2024.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2024. And the winner is…Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital, Windham, NH which is a no-declaw veterinary hospital! https://www.aaha.org/trends-magazine/december-2024/accredited-practice-of-the-year-2024/
UPDATE July 11, 2024. AAHA chose 4 finalists and none of them declaw cats! https://www.aaha.org/newstat/publications/meet-aahas-accredited-practice-of-the-year-finalists/
———————————————————————————————————————————————-AAHA’s 2024 Practice of the Year Contest is here! There are 20 finalists. Three of them perform declawing.
Let’s vote for the no-declaw animal hospitals!
Here’s the voting link.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R8BCV6Q
Our researchers looked into how these AAHA practice of the year finalists address declawing with a short phone call asking them for the cost of a neuter/declaw, who is their declawing vet, and if the cats are ok long term after a declaw.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
AAHA Finalists that don’t perform declawing.
1) Avenue Animal Hospital, Mount Juliet, TN
They don’t declaw cats. The employee said that Dr Harris their owner doesn’t like doing declaws. Researcher asked if a declaw is inhumane and the employee said, “In a sense yes” because it’s taking off the whole nail, recovery is painful, and they don’t recommend it.
2) Bath Brunswick Veterinary Associates, Brunswick, ME
They don’t declaw cats.
3) BEEVET Animal Hospital, Austin, TX
They don’t declaw cats. The employee said it is illegal in Austin and you have to go outside the city limits for it.
4) Boston Veterinary Clinic, Seaport, Boston, MA
They don’t declaw cats.
5) Caring Pathways, Centennial, CO.
This is a euthanasia veterinary clinic. They don’t declaw cats.
6) Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital, Windham, NH
They do not declaw cats. It is very painful and you have to remove part of the cats knuckle.
7) Diplomatic Security Global Canine Services Center (DGCSC), Winchester, VA
They do not declaw cats since it’s a canine service center.
8) Gehrman Animal Hospital, Minnetonka, MN
They do not declaw cats. The employee said that a lot of clinics don’t declaw anymore because it’s not medically necessary and it can be really hard on the cats and cause problems for them down the road.
9) Hopkinton Animal Hospital, Hopkinton, NH
They don’t declaw cats. The employee said none of their doctors feel that declawing is a humane procedure. Researcher asked if declawing is bad for a cat and the employee said that declawing is definitely bad for a cat.
10) Ludwigs Corner Veterinary Hospital, Chester Springs, PA
They don’t declaw cats.
11) Morris Animal Hospital, Granger, IN
They do not declaw and the employee said none of their veterinarians think a declaw is humane.
12) University Veterinary Hospital, Shreveport, LA
They do not declaw.
13) Westarbor Animal Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
They do not declaw cats.
None of the VCA clinics declaw cats. VCA banned declawing in all their vet clinics in 2020.
14) VCA Braelinn Village, Peachtree City, GA
They do not declaw cats.
15) VCA New Hartford Animal Hospital, New Hartford, NY
They do not declaw and the employee said that declawing is banned in NY.
16) VCA North Portland Veterinary Hospital, Portland, OR
They do not declaw cats.
17) VCA White Lake Animal Hospital, White Lake, MI
They do not declaw cats.
Here are the 3 finalists that perform declawing according to employees who work there.
Urban Veterinary Associates, Westmont, IL
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee asked, “Are you looking for all four declaw or just the front two?” The employee said a two paw declaw is around $1725. A four paw declaw is around $2550. The employee said that Dr Torok does their declaws. Researcher asked if she does them regularly and the employee said it’s not a procedure that they do very often. They said you need an exam for the cat before the surgery and the doctor would discuss the pros and cons of a declaw, recovery time, options, and other things.
Also on Urban Veterinary Associate’s website Dr Torok is listed as an “Elite Fear Free Professional.”
Fear Free does NOT allow their “Fear Free veterinarians” to declaw cats. We reached out to Fear Free to see if they allow their “Elite Fear Free Professionals” who are veterinarians to declaw cats but haven’t heard back from them.
Breeze Animal Hospital, Panama City Beach, FL
The employee said all four of the vets perform declaws and said it’s around $1000 for a neuter/declaw. The researcher asked if a declaw is ok for a cat long term and the employee said that they don’t do a whole lot of declaws because most people don’t want them. The researcher asked why do people not want to do declaws and the employee said it’s not a great procedure for the cats because they are supposed to have claws and “you are ripping their toenail out.” Researcher asked if their vets will do the declaws then it must be ok and the employee said, “Yes, they will be ok.”
Willowrun Veterinary Hospital, Smithfield, NC
The employee said that you have to make an appointment and they can give you the estimate for the neuter and the declaw. The employee said all their vets can do the declaw and that the cost for a neuter/declaw was probably between $500-$1000 for both the neuter and declaw.
More about AAHA and declawing. https://citythekitty.org/why-does-aaha-org-choose-profits-over-the-welfare-of-innocent-cats/
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In 2023 there were 4 finalists for AAHA’s practice of the year. Three of them did not declaw cats. AAHA chose the declawing clinic as their 2023 Practice of the Year. Here’s our story. https://citythekitty.org/aaha-org-had-4-finalists-for-their-2023-practice-of-the-year-3-of-them-dont-declaw-cats-aaha-chose-the-declawing-clinic-as-the-winner/
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What you can do to help.
Please email AAHA and ask them why they still allow declawing in their standard of excellence AAHA accredited animal hospitals. Email- AAHA @aaha.org
Please make a polite comment on AAHA’s YouTube videos and ask them why are they still allowing declawing in their AAHA accredited animal hospitals. https://www.youtube.com/@AAHAVets
Please ask AAHA why did they ban non-anesthesia dental cleaning procedures in 2013 but won’t do the same for declawing.
