LAKEWOOD, Colo. (Sept. 29, 2025) — The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), claims to be the gold standard in veterinary excellence, is under fire for refusing to ban the cruel and outdated practice of cat declawing—unless its member hospitals and veterinarians, many of which still perform and profit from the procedure, support the ban.
Here’s AAHA’s story announcing the VOLUNTARY declawing standard.
Here’s our story that shows you how AAHA has blatantly lied to advocates for years about why they allow declawing in their AAHA accredited hospitals.
In a recent AAHA podcast, Devon Crandell, the organization’s Director of Standards, confirmed that AAHA’s new anti-declawing standard—along with new standards against ear cropping and devocalization—are voluntary, not mandatory. (The discussion about the declawing standard starts at the 27 minute mark with Crandall talking about the 1-3 year plan at the 34 minute mark.)
Crandell said the organization would “spend the next one to three years” gathering feedback and evaluating “member support” before deciding whether to require compliance for a mandatory standard that bans declawing.
“Our goal is to move it to mandatory… but we also want to make sure we have our member support as a whole,” Crandell said.
Although the new standard assigns point values during evaluations, AAHA-accredited hospitals are still permitted to declaw cats, a procedure that involves amputating the last bone of each toe.
The surgery is banned or restricted in over 42 countries and several U.S. cities and states, and is widely condemned as unnecessary, painful, and inhumane in most of the world. Declawing is still a billion dollar business in America.
AAHA has long claimed to “strongly oppose” elective declawing and says this in their position statement, “Veterinarians are strongly encouraged to fully educate owners as to why declawing cats is no longer supported. The following points are integral to understanding why declawing is no longer viewed as a reasonable procedure…”
AAHA literally says declawing is no longer supported and it is not a reasonable procedure but they now say they need to get their member support to end it in AAHA hospitals.
Is AAHA more concerned with preserving revenue from declawing hospitals and retaining their accreditation memberships than taking decisive action to protect cats from this barbaric cruelty? It appears so.
When an organization like AAHA claims to stand for the best in veterinary medicine and care but honors hospitals that barbarically amputate cats’ toes for convenience and needs their member’s support to ban something that amounts to animal cruelty, it raises a serious ethical question: Is this what blood money looks like in veterinary medicine?
“AAHA is effectively asking their declawing veterinarians for permission to stop mutilating cats and wants to see how many of their hospitals will implement their no-declaw voluntary standard,” said CitytheKitty.org. “AAHA knows declawing is bad for cats—but won’t act to ban it because they’re afraid of losing revenue from their declawing hospitals.”
Most likely all of AAHA’s no-declaw hospitals favor banning this animal cruelty in AAHA hospitals because it tarnishes the AAHA brand that claims their accredited animals hospitals are practice the best in veterinary care and medicine.
In July 2025, Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, AAHA’s Chief Medical Officer, announced these new standards as a “monumental moment” and a “historic milestone” for animal welfare. But despite those words, AAHA’s own Director of Standards admitted in the podcast that hospitals performing declaws will not be required to stop—at least not yet.
Critics say this delay reveals a double standard.
In 2013, AAHA banned non-anesthesia dental cleanings—a practice it deemed unsafe and below the standard of care—by making it a mandatory standard, without polling members or getting their support.
“Why didn’t they wait for member support before banning non-anesthesia dental cleaning procedures?” City the Kitty nonprofit said. “Because it wasn’t about money. Declawing is different—they know they’ll lose members and revenue if they enforce this and make the declawing standard mandatory.”
Indeed, despite the new declawing standard, AAHA recently named nine hospitals that declaw cats as semifinalists in its 2025 ‘Practice of the Year’ contest. Then AAHA handpicked their four finalists and three of them perform declaws, and one—Blue Springs Animal Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri—advertises laser declawing on its website, using language that critics say downplays the long-term risks and pain.
AAHA currently enforces over 1,200 standards with over 70 of them that are mandatory, covering everything from pain management to surgical sterilization protocols. As far as we have researched, these mandatory standards were not implemented by first getting their member support.
In the same podcast, Crandell said AAHA wants to give hospitals time to decide their “willingness” to support the change and to prepare clients if they plan to stop performing the procedures.
But advocates say a true leader in the veterinary profession wouldn’t wait for support from vet clinics that are performing and profiting from this inhumane and cruel mutilation and risk so many innocent and healthy cats from having this horrendous animal cruelty done to them.
Twelve other veterinary organizations and companies have banned declawing in all their vet clinics and they didn’t need their member’s support to do what was right.
“Would a medical board ask surgeons who profit from amputating fingers if it’s okay to ban it?” City the Kitty nonprofit asked. “Of course not. But AAHA is doing the veterinary equivalent—and calling it progress.”
Until AAHA makes declawing non-negotiable, critics say it’s not raising the bar—it’s hiding behind it.
Please sign our petition to AAHA to ask them to make the declawing standard MANDATORY at the end of 2025. We are almost at 60,000 signatures! https://www.change.org/p/aaha-stop-putting-profits-over-the-welfare-of-cats-and-ban-declawing-in-your-hospitals
Send AAHA an email and ask them to do what’s RIGHT and stop allowing declawing in their hospitals THIS YEAR, not in 1-3 years!!!!!!! Standards@AAHA.org
If you get an answer from them, send us a note. CitytheKitty@gmail.com
