The California Veterinary Medical Association stopped the 2018 anti-declawing bill. Canadian veterinarians in British Columbia voted to ban declawing in May 2018.
When cats start walking on their balls then we will start believing the NJVMA’s spokesvet Dr Yurkus and his animal hospital that declawing isn’t more painful than neutering.
Meanwhile, the American Association of Feline Practitioners’ policy on declawing states:
“Physically, regardless of the method used, onychectomy causes a higher level of pain than spays and neuters. Patients may experience both adaptive and maladaptive pain; in addition to inflammatory pain, there is the potential to develop long-term neuropathic or central pain if the pain is inadequately managed during the perioperative and healing periods.” [AAFP Policy Statement on Declawing, 2007.]
Just like the tobacco companies did in the 30’s and 40’s for smoking, the veterinary profession started deceiving cat owners in the 50’s to believe that declawing was humane.
The veterinary associations and pro-declaw veterinarians are still perpetuating these lies and deception about declawing so that they can keep making money from this very inhumane procedure.
January 2026 Update. The employee said that they can’t give a quote for a declaw on the phone and you need an appointment for it
Ever wonder why NJVMA’s pro-declaw facebook page has more likes from countries that don’t speak English and likes from many other states, than from New Jersey?
Yep, the NJVMA doesn’t want you to know the ugly truth about their deceitful campaign and the lies in their testimony to NJ legislators, in their shameful attempt to stop our important cat protection bill.
The truth is, only around 2% of their followers are from New Jersey according to my investigation team. (197 followers) The rest are from places all over the world, from Canada, to the United Kingdom, to Afghanistan, Brazil, and many other states in America.
Of the 97 vets who perform declaws in this study, 72% said they do them frequently, commonly, often, routinely, or on a regular basis and more than one a month.
21% said they just do around one a month, very few or not often.
7% wouldn’t say how many they do.
Only 12% offered or suggested alternatives or asked why the cat owner wanted to declaw his or her cat.
Let’s thank the NYSVMS for reminding us that we must use our VOICES and EDUCATE the public and CAT OWNERS that DECLAWING is ANIMAL AB– USE and that we must protect all cats from LICENSED VETs who are doing this mutilating and inhumane procedure!
The practice where the President of the Long Island Veterinary Medical Association works charges $1.50 per toe to apply Soft Paws to your cat’s nails and this President charges $38 per toe for her to amputate your cat’s toes. The practice that the President of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society owns, charges $4 per toe to apply Soft Paws to your cat’s nails and this President charges $66 per toe for her to amputate your cat’s toes. Both practices require you to bring in your own Soft Paws for the application service.
A big study was quietly published in JAVMA in January 2016 and it involves declawing, debarking, and ear cropping. You have to be a member to read it, so most of the general public never saw this.
Most vets find ear cropping and debarking to be unethical and wrong. Yet many of these same vets are declawing cats.
Don’t you think it’s time for a wake up call for these vets to start putting the welfare of cats on the same level as dogs?
The NYSVMS sent this smug email (below) to their 5000 veterinary members yesterday about their victory. They are so proud of this accomplishment of stopping our important declawing bill AND the bill that would have banned the cruel and inhumane mutilating procedure that silences a dog’s voice. As with declawing, this procedure provides no medical benefit to dogs and are done solely for the convenience of the owners.
There are always safe, commonsense, and humane alternatives for the natural scratching behavior in cats and the barking in dogs.
The NYSVMS and other veterinary associations take this route that they don’t want anyone to take away their “medical procedures” because they are “licensed professional veterinarians” and they know the best “medical treatment decisions that are in the best interests of their patients.”