Story published on May 20, 2025.
Link to this Goodvets facebook post.
Please sign our petition to GoodVets. https://www.change.org/p/urge-goodvets-to-stop-allowing-declawing-in-their-vet-clinics
Please reach out to GoodVets CEO and Chief Medical Officer and ask them to please stop allowing declawing in their vet clinics.
This should be an easy decision because the majority of their clinics do not perform this animal cruelty on cats.
CEO Ryan Joseph and Chief Medical Officer Dr Antonio DeMarco. Email – Team@goodvets.com
Also, we wanted to get an answer from them about this. Does GoodVets even allow declawing?
In our survet below, one of the GoodVets clinics said their company, GoodVets, doesn’t do declaws. One GoodVets clinic said none of the GoodVets clinics declaw cats. One GoodVets clinic said the GoodVets company does not perform declawing.
What’s going on? Does GoodVets not allow declawing and is this GoodVets declawing vet in Florida breaking their rules OR does GoodVets allow declawing and the two GoodVets Clinic in Florida are the only ones that perform declawing?
Please ask GoodVets CEO and CVO this question. Team@goodvets.com
If you get an answer, please send it to us. citythekitty@gmail.com
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GoodVets says this on their website, “Healthy pets start with empowered vets. When veterinarians receive ownership and autonomy, your pets end up with the best possible care (and the best possible treats)” and “Best-in-class medicine.”
The link to their website says, “The best veterinary care providers.”
Their CEO Ryan Joseph was mentioned in a 2020 story with DVM360 that said this, “The company looks for people who not only are focused on high-quality medicine but also are inspired to learn leadership skills and build strong workplace culture in the practices.”
Their website homepage says this, “Easy same-day booking, state-of-the-art medicine, and compassionate care — a better veterinary experience from start to finish.”
We reached out to GoodVets CEO and Chief Medical Officer Dr Antonio DeMarco in emails and on their Instagram page to ask them some questions about why GoodVets allows declawing and never received a reply.
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We did a quick survey of 22 random GoodVets veterinary practices.
Summary of what we found.
Out of 22 GoodVets clinics, we found that only two of them will declaw cats.
The same owner veterinarian is the declawing vet for both clinics in Florida and they charge around $1050 for a spay/declaw. According to an employee at one of the clinics, the reason Dr Tomasino declaws cats is that she believes if a declaw keeps a cat in home then it’s better than being killed in a shelter.(This excuse is just fear mongering and false since many declawed cats lose their homes because of the behavioral issues they develop from the pain and discomfort in their mutilated paws. Some of these declawed cats are euthanized because they can’t find a new home.) One of the declawing Goodvets clinics says the cats are ok after a declaw and they do them routinely and have been for many years. The other GoodVet declawing clinic says that it depends on the cat if they will be ok from being declawed and even said declawing is coming out of favor in the veterinary community because there are some differing opinions whether it is a humane procedure. Some of the other no-declaw GoodVet clinics say they don’t declaw cats because it’s inhumane, it’s painful, it’s like cutting off the tips of their fingers, and it’s harmful to a cat.
We wanted to see how GoodVets practices address declawing so our researchers made a short phone call to some of them and asked how much they charge for a declaw, if they do them regularly, and if declawing is ok long term for a cat.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
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1) Boyton Beach. FL.
This GoodVets declawing clinics says this on their website, “About this Clinic GoodVets Boynton Beach is led by Dr. Victoria Tomasino and her dedicated team. Dr. Tomasino is proud to provide the best-in-class care to all Boynton Beach’s dogs and cats.”
Their website says, “Dr. Tomasino is proud to provide the best-in-class care to all Boynton Beach’s dogs and cats.”
Their Instagram page says, “Providing the Palm Beaches with the highest-quality veterinary care….”
They only have one vet who does their declaws, Dr Victoria Tomansino, and she uses a cautery machine for all their declaws.
The office manager said it cuts similar to a laser and it sounds worse than it is and it basically burns the blood vessels as it’s cutting so that it stops the bleeding.
They said that a rough estimate for a spay/declaw starts at around $1050.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said it depends on the cat and said it’s much easier for a kitten to be declawed than an older cat and the heavier cats struggle more because there’s more weight on their feet.
They said declawing is kind of coming out of favor with a lot of the veterinary community because there are different opinions whether it’s a humane procedure or not.
They said that Dr Tomasino’s belief is that if it makes a cat a better pet and allows it to stay in a home as opposed to being outside or being given up for adoption or to live in a shelter, then she is usually willing to do it.
The employee said that you need to get an exam first so that Dr Tomasino can assess if the cat is a good candidate for a declaw because not every cat is.
The employee never mentioned any of the humane alternatives to declawing.
2) Del Rey. FL.
This GoodVets declawing clinics says this on their website, “About this Clinic GoodVets Delray is led by Dr. Victoria Tomasino and her dedicated team. Dr. Tomasino is proud to provide the best-in-class care to all Delray’s dogs and cats.”
The employee said that they cannot give out the estimate for a spay/declaw on the phone and you need an exam first.
They said they use a Bovi cautery and said that both the vets that work in their office can do spay and declaws.
Researcher asked who their declawing vets are and the employee said, Dr Victoria Tomasino and Dr Rachel Siegal.
The employee said, “We do routine surgeries like spays and declaws” and said they’ve been doing them for many years.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after the declaws and the employee said, “Yea, absolutely.”
Researcher asked if they will do the spay/declaw together after the exam and the employee said yes.
The employee never mentioned any of the humane alternatives to declawing.
3) South Tampa. FL.
They do not declaw cats. The researcher asked why they don’t declaw cats. The employee said, “We just don’t think that is a very humane procedure, so we just don’t do that.”
4) Coconut Grove. FL.
The employee said they do not declaw cats.
5) Wynwood. Miami. FL
The employee said that their doctors choose to not declaw cats. Researcher asked why and if it’s bad for a cat and the employee said yes because it’s taking off their toes.
6) Coral Gables. FL
The employee said that they do not declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said they talked to their doctors and they don’t do the procedure there for GoodVets and a lot of doctors don’t perform that procedure anymore because they are pretty much cutting off a piece of their finger.
Researcher asked if declawing is bad for a cat and the employee said yes it is and a lot of doctors don’t recommend it.
7) New Albany. Columbus, OH
The employee said they do not declaw cats.
Researcher asked why and the employee said they don’t recommend it. Researcher asked if declawing is bad for a cat and the employee said yes and they don’t think it’s very friendly to them.
8) Polaris. Westerville, OH.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said it’s considered inhumane since you are taking off the last digit/bone of their finger and it’s not a humane practice so their vets don’t perform declaws.
9) Dallas. TX
They said they don’t declaw cats.
10) Dunwoody. GA
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said their doctor doesn’t do them. . Researcher asked if declawing is bad for a cat and the employee said that it can be painful to not have their claws.
11) West Midtown. Atlanta, GA.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said a lot of veterinarians consider it to be inhumane.
12) West Buckhead. Atlanta, GA.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said their company, GoodVets, doesn’t do them. They said they only thing they do are nail trims.
13) Montford. Charlotte, NC.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said declawing is essentially cutting off the tips of their fingers and it can cause pain later in life.
14) Plaza Midwood. Charlotte, NC.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said it’s pretty inhumane and painful for the cats and it can cause some pretty severe behavioral/medical changes down their life.
15) Naperville. IL.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said because it’s more harmful to a cat in the long run.
16) Roscoe Village. Chicago, IL.
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and the employee said because it’s inhumane. They said if you look at your finger, declawing is the equivalent to cutting your finger off at the first knuckle and it can cause behavioral issues and a lot of pain. The employee said none of the GoodVets clinics declaw cats.
17) Streeterville. Chicago, IL
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why they don’t declaw and if GoodVets does not allow it and the employee said, “yes that’s correct.”
They said that none of the GoodVets locations perform declawing and the GoodVets company doesn’t perform them and declawing is not recommended.
18) Uptown. Chicago, IL
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why and they said because it’s like cutting off the cat’s fingertip and by law they aren’t able to do them in Chicago.
19) Old Town. Chicago, IL
The employee said they don’t declaw cats.
20) Lakeview, Chicago, IL
They do not declaw cats.
21) Wicker Park. Chicago, IL
The employee said they don’t declaw cats.
22) West Loop. Chicago, IL
The employee said they don’t declaw cats but said there are other doctors in the city that may perform them.
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There are always easy, humane options to declawing. Sturdy scratching posts, scratching pads, nail trims, deterrents like double sided tape and Feliway, Soft Paws, etc.
For the facts about declawing please go to https://citythekitty.org/declawing-facts-vs-myths-humane-options/
Always take the high road, be polite, and educate.
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