Story published in February 2017 and updated in July 2025.
Summary of what happened.
In November of 2015, City the Kitty team received a note from a supporter who had reached out to this semi-famous veterinarian and respectfully asked him if he would help us with awareness for declawing and the bill in New York.
This veterinarian was Dr Andy Roark. He had told this supporter in an email in 2015, “I’m opposed to declawing but have not made my views on this issue public for a variety of reasons.”
He also sent our supporter this note to let her know that he doesn’t declaw cats anymore, “This is not correct. I do not do declaws and have not done them in years. I do not own the veterinary practice so my influence on overall policy there is limited, although I am surprised by what you are telling me. If you can let me know who you talked to I will speak with them directly. I recently spoke with the manager at the practice to ensure that everyone knew I do not do this. I am very surprised by your experience. To restate, I am opposed to declawing and have not done it for years.”
Dr Roark went on to tell her in an email that he believes he can do more good in the veterinary community when his feelings are unknown because it helps him generate productive discussions without having people get defensive and shut down. He said that he would like to move veterinary medicine forward as a whole, and that was the best way for him to do that.
Hmmm. So, we did a little research and tried to find ONE place that Dr Roark had talked about the humane alternatives to declawing or the actual procedure itself or anything with the word declaw.
We couldn’t find one story or video anywhere, ever. So then we asked this supporter if they knew if Dr Roark declawed cats. The supporter said they didn’t but had called the veterinary practice that Dr Roark practiced at and asked if Dr Roark declaws cats and two of the employees had told them that they could make an appointment and specifically get their cat declawed by Dr Roark.
So then we were quite surprised and wanted to confirm this, because it was truly quite shocking.
A CitytheKitty.org researcher called to get a price for a declaw at Dr Roark’s practice, Cleveland Park Animal Hospital in South Carolina, and asked if Dr Roark performs declaws and sure enough an employee said that you could book an appointment to get a cat, 4 paw declawed, by Dr Roark.
We were quite surprised since he had said he was opposed to declawing, so our researchers made a couple more calls on different days and even had a Los Angeles Times journalist listen in on one of the phone calls to ask if Dr Roark performs declaws. After asking if declawing would be ok for a cat or are there any long term negative consequences to declawing, the nice person on the phone even said that they are excellent at declaws and do more volume than most clinics.
The employee even said that Dr Roark was filling in for a vet who was on vacation the next week, before the Thanksgiving holidays, and that if the researcher wanted the declaw they should book it soon because he was only in their clinic for a short time.
The researcher asked her to please confirm this with someone that Dr Roark indeed performs declaws and the woman put the phone on hold and came back and said that was correct.
Needless to say we were quite saddened to hear what 5 different people at his practice were telling us on different days. Also this other supporter who reached out to them, had the same results and was told by an employee at his practice that Dr Roark performs declaws.
So CitytheKitty.org’s President respectfully reached out to Dr Andy Roark in an email and told him about his letter CitytheKitty.org received from a supporter, asked him about his stance of being opposed to declawing yet choosing to stay in the closet about it. We also asked him why 7 different people at his practice said that people could book an appointment to declaw their cats with him and yet he says he’s opposed to declawing. Of course we knew that this is a legal surgical procedure that is performed in thousands of veterinary practices, but just wanted to clarify this very confusing situation.
Dr Andy Roark’s response in his emails was that the information being given out by employees at his clinic was “inaccurate” and that he doesn’t declaw cats and hasn’t done them for years. He reiterated that he is opposed to the procedure and said he, “councils against it.”
He said people don’t randomly call and ask him to perform declaws, or any other kind of surgery for that matter.
He said he assumed the staff made the assumption that those cat owners asking for a declaw, knew him and that it was a special case. He didn’t know what else to say as to why people at his clinic would be saying that he declaws cats and would offer to book a surgery day and time for it with him.
City’s President moved on from those concerns and then tried to inspire him in another email to at least write some stories about the humane alternatives to declawing or how declawing is bad for a cat or anything that would help raise awareness to this mutilating and inhumane procedure.
City’s President told him about all the stories we have been receiving from hundreds of cat owners about declawed cats suffering and how he could use his voice to help end this unnecessary cruelty. City’s President took quite a few hours writing a long passionate and respectful note to him to see if he would help in any way that he can since he was “opposed to declawing.”
In one sentence Dr Roark said he was impressed by City the Kitty’s President’s passion and dedication to this cause and said that City the Kitty’s President is someone who is working hard to help pets and do good in the world. He said that he hopes I see similar characteristics in him.
And in the next sentence he said he didn’t feel inspired but he felt attacked.
Hmmmm. We are still trying to figure out how City the Kitty’s President attacked him.
City’s President simply asked some questions in a private email as to why so many employees at his practice that is a AAHA, AAFP Cat Friendly hospital were saying that they are a high volume declawing practice and that cat owners could book a declaw surgery with him personally.
City’s President simply asked him if he would help us with this important cause instead of staying silent and tried to inspire him to be a leader in the veterinary profession that helps save cats from this inhumane procedure.
City’s President simply tried to show him what is happening to thousands of cats in America from this cruel and mutilating procedure that is being done by his colleagues.
Then after hearing his answer, City’s President moved on from that confusing issue and simply went on to ask him if he would help us with this cause.
Dr Roark told City’s President in his email in 2015, “there’s a decent chance that I will draw public attention to this issue, but it will be when I am researched, inspired, and ready to try to make change.”
He also said, ” Inside the clinic where I work, you have created an opportunity for me to generate discussion with the staff and other doctors. I will take advantage of that.”
He wished City’s President and City good luck and said, “I hope you are correct and someday declawing will be illegal.”
Hope and wishing aren’t going to end declawing. It’s going to take real action to make declawing illegal and we need help from people and organizations who are influential in this profession. In 2015 if Dr Roark hoped declawing is illegal then why wouldn’t he try to be part of the solution to help end this inhumane and cruel procedure like Dr Marty Becker is.
City’s President took another 4 hrs of her time and wanted to leave him with one last passionate note to try to inspire him to help our cause.
She also showed him some of the unethical things many veterinarians are doing in regards to deceiving cat owners into thinking that declawing is painless and ok to do to a cat. She told him about the shocking and unimaginable AAHA.org 3 kitties story .
City’s President showed him photos of declawed kitties suffering and wanted to show him what was going on behind the scenes on so many veterinary practices throughout America in regards to declawing and kitties needlessly suffering.
Not once did City the Kitty’s President threaten him on social media or in this private email conversation. Not once were her words harassing or abusive. Not once did she ask him to “publicly shame and condemn veterinarians.”
City’s President was simply showing him the terrible propaganda and misleading information that many pro-declaw vets make available for their clients so that just maybe he would help with awareness to teach cat owners the truth. It would take just an hour of his time to write something that would reach his thousands of veterinarians and cat owners.
City’s President wrote him things like this, “I like to think even bigger Dr Roark. What if City the Kitty and Dr Andy Roark collaborated to bring new campaigns of education and awareness about this horrific thing. Wow…I can see that you truly would go down in veterinary history as a “doctor” who did the right thing at the right time and helped end this with us. “
Is that cyber bullying??
City’s President was passionately trying to get him to realize that he has a shining opportunity on a silver platter that he could truly be one of the biggest heroes in his profession and help save thousands of cats from this inhumane and cruel procedure, or he could play the victim role and get pity and sympathy from his veterinarian followers, who many of them declaw cats, and his cat owners, who many of them declaw their cats.
City the Kitty nonprofit never heard back from him and 10 days after this email conversation, he published this story Andy Roark Cyber-bullied instead of writing something that would educate the public about scratching behavior, the humane alternatives, or why declawing is harmful to all cats.
After he posted his cyber bullying story on his facebook page, he received hundreds of comments of support and love from his followers and veterinarian colleagues. Clearly Dr Andy Roark was trying to get pity from his supporters and he had no interest in trying to help protect innocent cats from this animal cruelty.
****** UPDATE ABOUT HIS VETERINARY PRACTICE 2016- When people call about getting a declaw price, the employees on the phone now say that you have to book an appointment and the doctor will go over options to declawing.
The same week that City the Kitty’s President reached out to Dr Andy Roark, she also reached out to Dr Marty Becker who had done a few stories about declawing and scratching issues with cats.
He was so amazing and said he would write a blog post about the pain and trauma caused by declawing and help with the awareness about the bill to ban declawing in New York. He wrote this awesome story, that most likely saved hundreds of cats through the awareness.
He knows the urgency in helping with this important cause and truly cares about helping the welfare of cats over losing any veterinarian followers who might be in favor of declawing cats.
Dr Andy Roark also blocked City the Kitty on social media.
So, now you know the facts and the rest of this story.