Cats on Instagram in their cone of shame after they have been declawed. This is AB– USE my friends. 
There’s a crime being committed against cats in the American veterinary profession and everyone in the cat world is talking about it.
Well, almost everyone.
It’s called declawing and it MUST stop. Soft paws and scratchers are the healthy and humane alternatives.
Amputating cat’s toes and claws is torture and inhumane.
My mom and I are having a tough time with our important cause. Honestly, I’m being targeted just for trying to end declawing. My methods and words are being attacked by pro-declaw people who are trying their best to justify why toe amputations should be a legal surgical procedure for all veterinarians.
These anonymous bullies are obsessively combing through each and every one of my stories and are trying to find some sort of mistake or statement to debunk.
I’m open to correcting mistakes but I don’t take well to bullying.
They cowardly make fake profiles to hide their true identity, question my stories on my blog, call my website sh-tty, say I’m like a broken record, and make fun of me because I don’t have a full-time job.
They are taking abusive attacks against me to try to stop me from saving kitties paws and lives from this torture. I know. Who would have thought that there are people out there who are passionate about condoning animal cruelty and mutilation.
I wish I was making this up but I’m not. I’m disheartened and dumbfounded that this could be happening to me.
It’s now time for me to speak up and tell you the rest of this story. I’m tired of suffering in silence so I’m going to share this.
The most important part is at the end so please stick with me on this one.
I think I know what may have sparked this wave of attacks that are millimeters from what a judge, who likes cats, would probably rule is unlawful harassment.
These attacks started after I posted this story [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/nysvms-president-leads-the-way-to-try-to-defeet-the-cat-protection-bill/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] NYSVMS President story[/button] about the President of the NYSVMS and some examples on how she personally addresses declawing, I started receiving some not so nice people, criticizing me for what I’m doing with this cause.
The reason for doing that story about the NYSVMS President is because I think it’s very important for everyone to practice what you preach, especially when you are a leader. The NYSVMS says to the legislators in their opposition letter for bill to ban declawing that their vets take declawing seriously and have an obligation to pet owners to counsel them on the humane alternatives and only do it as a last resort.
I’m not sure if these haters are relatives, friends, or co-workers or colleagues of this President of the NYSVMS or just people who are extremely passionate about defending a very unnecessary, cruel, and inhumane veterinary procedure that could be defined as torture.
Either way, I want to clear the air and set things straight. Completely.
I want to address the comments of one of these haters who I finally had to block on Twitter because it was taking up too much of my time addressing their absurd comments and also I don’t want to waste my valuable time with someone who is a coward and has to make a fake profile.
I think this info that I’m posting will be helpful in educating people about declawing.
I’m always up for a healthy debate or someone giving me helpful advice for our cause but this crossed the line.
It all started with this,
Okie dokie.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the bill in NY that would ban declawing. The facts are that I actually get advice from some of the most accomplished veterinarians in the world and run everything by them before I post anything that has to do with veterinary medicine.
Next, this person said,
Newsflash! Declawing is a common/routine procedure in many vet practices and performed on around 25% of cats in America and probably on around 40% of cats in the Midwest states. That’s around 2 million cats a year folks.
Then this person went on to tweet out this info to try to make the point that declawing isn’t performed often because it’s not even on this list of surgical procedures. (Spay/neuter isn’t even on this list) The truth is, no pet insurance company will cover declawing for cat owners.
Also, thankfully, this Dr Carol McConnell, VP for Nationwide is very anti-declaw. 
Then this person went on to say this
It’s important to note that almost ALL shelters/rescues in America are against declawing and support legislation to ban it. They would be the first to say to keep declawing legal if they thought a ban on declawing was going to mean more cats are going to be euthanized. In fact they deal with declawed cats in their shelters/rescues all the time. Most of the time these cats are relinquished because of litter box avoidance or biting issues.
In the 5 yrs after the declawing ban in 8 cities, the amount of cats in shelters decreased significantly and didn’t increase.
Next this person refutes the facts that many veterinarians make great money from declawing cats by quoting a comment I had posted from Dr Mitsie Vargas, the veterinarian who stopped declawing last year after the America’s Favorite Veterinarian contest. Dr Vargas told me that her revenue is UP 10% after stopping this inhumane procedure.
She’s actually getting NEW clients who are seeking out a humane doctor who doesn’t declaw cats. She also was one of the 3 vets in the top ten AFV contest who actually actively counseled cat owners about how bad declawing was for a cat, suggested humane alternatives, and rarely did declaws in the first place.
The facts are that many veterinarians who declaw cats make a great amount of extra income from declawing cats. Those are the facts.
I always tell people that declawing is banned in most of the rest of the world. So this hater wrote this.
The facts are that declawing is illegal in around 30 countries and most other countries veterinarians never even think of performing it because it is considered unethical. So thank you cowardly troll. I will add that to my comments. Also most cat owners in the rest of the world don’t request this cruel and painful amputation procedure for their cats.
Cat owners in many other countries have a healthier and humane mindset and use common sense for their cats with the use of scratchers. They also don’t put the welfare of their furniture and belongings OVER the welfare of their beloved little special animal. Period.
The new factual statement I will use is…wait for it…..
Declawing is banned or considered unethical and never performed in most of the rest of the world.
Then this bully started running out of things to criticize me about so they went on to say that I write, “horribly formatted essays on my shitty website.”
Well the truth is, I’m not doing this to make a flashy website. I’m doing this because I want to post the facts about declawing, expose the hypocritical and unethical ways that some pro-declaw vets address declawing. I also had a nice friend put up this website for a very low cost as a favor because he knew I am working hard to try to end a very inhumane thing that is done to cats.
Then after I told this person this in a tweet, “you can criticize all you want but at least I have a purpose and what I’m doing is working to save lots of cats from this torture.”
They went on to say, 
Okie dokie. For your information, I did have a full time job for 25 yrs. It was a dream job that anyone would want.
A staff photographer at one of the biggest newspapers in the country. For a quarter of a century I photographed some of the biggest events in history in sports and news and won 3 team Pulitzers for my photography coverage with my colleagues at the Los Angeles Times for the LA Riots, Northridge Earthquake, and the San Diego Fires. I photographed Presidents from Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, to Bill Clinton. I’ve photographed and spent time with many celebrities and entertainers from Angelina Jolie, Carol Burnett, to Bob Hope.
I’ve traveled the world and photographed everything imaginable and have no regrets. It was rewarding beyond my wildest dreams.
Yes I know what it is to have a full-time job that I am passionate about and I’m actually glad that I was laid off and now have this purpose and NOT a full-time job.
This little orange tabby kitten showed up in the front of my house and took me on a different path with a different purpose. I wake up everyday with more excitement and passion for what I’m doing now than I did at my dream job.
I could have kept working as a photojournalist full-time after I was laid off, since many of the wire services immediately started hiring me for really cool and amazing assignments.
Since I was laid off, I’ve photographed the NBA finals/playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, MLB playoffs, and news events for various organizations like Associated Press, Reuters, and UPI.
But in the last 3 years it has been MY choice to just work on this important cause to end declawing full-time. Which translates to 16 hr days/7 days a week for zero pay. Why you ask? Because thousands and thousands of cats are suffering unnecessarily and thousands more are in danger.
I could have chased the fame and fortune and money and tried to make City the Kitty more famous so that he would have contracts and licensing but instead but I wanted to find an even bigger cause and purpose for us.
Cassy the declawed cat who has been suffering with bone chips, ever since a “doctor” amputated her toes with a guillotine cutter,
told me about an organization called the Paw Project and their important cause to end declawing.
I started working on educating cat owners about this inhumane procedure and exposing many unethical things revolving around declawing in the veterinary profession. Yep, I’ve been working on this cause for the last 3 yrs for 16 hr days/7 days a week.
I have given up other financial opportunities and work and am now using my own money from my 401k to pay my bills just because I want to work to save kitties from this torture. I even pay to boost important declawing posts so that more people will see them and more cats will be saved from it.
Yep, not asking for handouts Mr or Mrs Haters. In fact, in December of last year when City the Kitty was fired from his job at the cat food company 
and he got real sick with the vestibular disease,
we had thousands of dollars in vet bills and many people were writing to donate to the medical bills but we said no thanks and paid for them from my savings.
I told people if they wanted to pick up one of City’s first photobooks that I would be doing a kickstarter (which is just ended) and they could help out this way. (Thanks so much to everyone who pledged! I can’t wait to make this book really special!)
This coward, who is hiding behind a fake profile and is obsessed with my purpose, is going on saying these things. 
Since when was shining light on unethical things and educating people about declawing considered aggression?
Also as far as the “unintended consequences” , of course there will be those people who want to keep holding on to a very unhealthy mindset about declawing because no one has counseled them as to how bad declawing is for a cat and how it causes negative consequences to their beloved felines.
If ALL the veterinary organizations and places like this SPCA in Erie County NY would do campaigns and educate cats owners and also teach them about the humane alternatives, then the choice to declaw a cat wouldn’t in be in cat owners minds.
CAT OWNERS IN MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD NEVER THINK OF MUTILATING THEIR CATS LIKE THIS, SO WHY CAN’T ALL AMERICAN CAT OWNERS BE LIKE THEY ARE?
America is stuck the dark ages about this inhumane procedure and the fault mostly lies in the hands of pro-declaw veterinarians who aren’t speaking out AGAINST it! They mostly declaw cats as a FIRST OPTION because it’s easier for them and they make great money doing it.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to or an engineer with a masters degree to figure all this out.
This fake profile came up after I posted this revealing story about how the President of the NYSVMS, Dr Susan Wylegala, addresses declawing at her practice, Cheektowaga Veterinary Hospital in NY. She doesn’t practice what she preaches and the facts clearly show. [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/does-the-nysvms-president-walk-the-talk/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] President of the NYSVMS and Officers & Declawing [/button]
Dr Wylegala charges for the amputation surgery come out to be $44.16 each toe for a 4 paw declaw and a bit more pricey at $66 each toe if you go with the two paw declaw. Prices per toe are calculated for a cat with 10 toes on the front paws and 8 toes on the back paws. (Calculation based on what Cheektowaga employees say is recommended for the surgery which is also an EKG and Bloodwork)
And last but not least. This cowardly bully tweeted this,
Now that you bring it up and just so that I leave nothing on the table once and for all about this situation, I will tell the back story about this “cyber sniveling” post. [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/cyber-sniveling/” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Cyber Sniveling[/button]
I’m tired of being criticized for “attacking” and “harassing” this well known veterinarian so now it’s time for the rest of the story to be known.
[button href=”https://citythekitty.org/how-to-play-the-victim-instead-of-helping-the-welfare-of-cats/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] How to play the victim instead of helping the welfare of cats[/button]
Update to this story June 22, 2016
Now the pro-declaw people are harassing me even more by sending my email to adult sites and religious sites and registering an account in my name. Guess what evil people. Your God is not happy that you are condoning torture and mutilation on these perfect little animals for the sake of your sofas, lace drapes, and high gloss furniture.
These sites are working with us to provide all the information from your personal computer and we have found the exact town that you live in. So thank you for this. Harassment of any kind is a serious crime that the authorities take seriously.
[button href=”https://citythekitty.org/first-cat-sm-more-s-than-m-in-your-case-and-now-this/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Harassment by pro-declaw operatives[/button]