Story published in February 2017 and updated in July 2025.

Disclaimer- We believe everyone has the right to support the causes they care about and should never be pressured or bullied into supporting one they don’t. It is entirely appropriate to respectfully ask others to consider helping a cause that matters deeply. In over 10 years of City the Kitty’s advocacy against declawing, we have never threatened, harassed, or attacked anyone. Our mission is to expose the truth about declawing through education and transparency. We publish factual stories highlighting veterinary clinics, companies, and professionals who continue to perform or enable declawing—despite calling it inhumane—or who mislead cat owners for profit. Our goal is to hold them accountable and advocate for the protection of cats.

Although Dr Roark never specified who was cyber-bullying him, we are 100% sure that he is referring to the correspondence that CitytheKitty.org and a CTK supporter had with him.

We did NOT harass, threaten, bully, or attack Mr Roark.  

Update, 2025. 

Dr Andy Roark is slated as the keynote speaker at AAHA Con on September 11, 2025 in Chicago.  The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) claiming to strongly oppose declawing,  yet their hypocrisy is evident by STILL allowing this animal cruelty in their accredited animal hospitals after introducing a NON-Mandatory Standard for declawing in July 2025 and in their selection of nine AAHA-accredited hospitals that declaw as finalists for their 2025 Practice of the Year contest, touting them as exemplars of “gold standard care.”

What will Dr Andy Roark discuss at AAHA CON 2025? If you are going to this conference, please ask Andy why he made up this cyber-bullying story and why he hasn’t spoken out against declawing in the last 10 years.

We have been unable to find any public posts, articles, or comments from Dr. Andy Roark in which he personally speaks out against declawing, despite his stated opposition to the procedure. While his platform has published articles by other veterinarians on the topic, Dr. Roark himself has not shared his own position publicly. Additionally, a search of his Facebook page yielded no mention of the word “declaw.” If you are aware of any statements or posts we may have missed, please feel free to share them with us at CitytheKitty@gmail.com

Here’s one declawing story on his website by Dr Sarah Boston in 2017. https://drandyroark.com/time-talk-declaws/

Here’s the disclaimer at the end of this declawing story on Andy Roark’s website. “The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.”

 

Summary of what happened.

Some of Dr Andy Roark’s comments in emails to City the Kitty nonprofit and to one of City’s supporters.

Email to a City the Kitty supporter on Nov. 9, 2015, ” I am opposed to declawing but have not made my views on this issue public for a variety of reasons. One is that I believe I can do more good in the veterinary community when my feelings are unknown as it helps me generate productive discussions without having people get defensive and shut down. I would like to move veterinary medicine forward as a whole, and this is the best way for me to try to accomplish that.”

And Dr Roark wrote this in an email conversation with City the Kitty’s founder on November 12, 2015. There is 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. .. I hope you are correct and someday declawing will be illegal.”

Some of Dr Roark’s comments in his fake cyber-bullying story in 2015.

“I’ve had a rough couple of weeks, honestly. The fact is, I am being targeted and attacked by an animal activist group.” FACT- Not once did City the Kitty nonprofit or his support attack Andy Roark in any of the email correspondence or online. We simply reached out to him in respectful emails asking him about why numerous employees at his clinic said that he declaws cats and if he would help us with this cause to end declawing.

“They call the clinics where I work, lay down direct and passive-aggressive threats on social media, and send nasty and harassing emails.” FACT- Nothing in the emails were “nasty” or “harassing” and there were NO THREATS.

“You may be surprised to know these people do not have a problem with how I practice medicine. The topic they’re talking about? We have some similar thoughts on it. They actually know I’m sympathetic to their beliefs about their cause.”   FACT- We cannot find one public post, comment, or story where Andy Roark educated cat owners about declawing or spoke out against it.

“The reason they’re threatening me like this — within just inches of what would be ruled unlawful harassment — is that they want me to agree to speak out for them and publicly shame and condemn veterinarians they disagree with.”  FACT- Nothing in the emails could ever be considered harassment and there were NO THREATS. We NEVER asked him to “publicly shame and condemn veterinarians.”

I wish I were making this up, but it’s entirely, confoundingly, dishearteningly true. I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. Upon further research, I saw that it was happening to others as well. I felt like it was time to say something.  FACT- He completely made up this story that he was being cyber-bullied as you will see in our story.

“I will not do anything because I am harassed or threatened, or because someone tries to shame me.” FACT- We never harassed, threatened, or shamed Andy Roark.

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In November of 2015, City the Kitty nonprofit was asking his followers to try to find famous veterinarians to help with educating the public about declawing and about the easy, humane alternatives. City the Kitty’s President reached out to Dr Marty Becker about this and within a couple weeks he wrote this important story about how declawing is very bad for cats and stating that he wanted declawing to be put in the history books! https://www.drmartybecker.com/veterinary-medicine/the-tragedy-of-post-declaw-pain-syndrome-and-how-to-help-cats-who-suffer-from-it/

 
In 2015, on Nov. 9, 2015, Kim, a devoted supporter of City the Kitty wanted to help with this campaign so she sent Dr. Andy Roark, a well-known veterinarian, a polite email and asked what his views on declawing were and if he would help this cause to end declawing. (We are sad to say that Kim passed away in 2023. RIP Kim. You saved a lot of cats from being declawed from your help with this cause!)
 
 
 On Dr Roark sent Kim a note back saying, “I am opposed to declawing but have not made my views on this issue public for a variety of reasons. One is that I believe I can do more good in the veterinary community when my feelings are unknown as it helps me generate productive discussions without having people get defensive and shut down. I would like to move veterinary medicine forward as a whole, and this is the best way for me to try to accomplish that.”
 

Kim sent him this note back, “I was happy to have received your note and to hear that you were opposed to declawing but was so confused as to why you would keep it private when so many kitties were suffering. I knew with your fame and popularity I believe you really could influence cat owners and veterinarians in a respectful and positive ways that would start to create a more humane and modern mindset to help to end this mutilating procedure in North America. There are ways to educate and inspire people to stop doing a very inhumane thing without making them defensive or having them shutdown and I thought if anyone could do it, it would be you.”

 
Also, according to multiple employees at his practice, Cleveland Park Animal Hospital,  they confirmed that Dr Roark performed declaw surgeries, contradicting his stance.
 
On Nov. 12, 2015,  City the Kitty nonprofit’s President sent a respectful email to Dr Roark and questioned this discrepancy, Dr Roark denied performing declaws, claimed he felt “attacked,” and later portrayed himself as a cyberbullying victim in a blog story, gaining sympathy from followers while ignoring the cruelty of declawing.

 

Remember, the only thing that was posted online about this issue when CitytheKitty.org was discussing it with him was this inspiring and respectful facebook post on November 12, 2015. 

 
Did Dr Roark want to play the victim and get support and pity from his followers more than he wanted to help protect innocent cats from this inhumane and cruel amputation procedure? It appears so.
 
Imagine how many cats could have been saved from being declawed if Dr Andy Roark would have used all that time writing up a story to educate cat owners about how bad declawing is for cats instead of this fake cyber-bullying story.
 
Here are just some of the many screenshots of all the big veterinary organizations and followers who trusted Roark that his experience was true and shared his fake cyber-bullying story. 
 

 
He also blocked City the Kitty on social media after City the Kitty made this comment on his facebook page post about his fake cyber-bullying story, to one of his supporters which shows he’s more interest in maintaining his image than protecting cats.
 
 

Then we asked our followers about this issue with this facebook post.

 
 
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Full story of how this all went down and what lead to Dr Andy Roark’s fake cyber-bullying story.

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 on Nov. 9, 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 after she had called his clinic and found that the employee at the clinic said that Dr Roark can perform a 2 or 4 paw declaw, “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 send her this comment, “I am opposed to declawing but have not made my views on this issue public for a variety of reasons. One is that I believe I can do more good in the veterinary community when my feelings are unknown as it helps me generate productive discussions without having people get defensive and shut down. I would like to move veterinary medicine forward as a whole, and this is the best way for me to try to accomplish 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. 

City the Kitty’s President and another 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 employees 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.


BORDER

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.