Story published Jan. 27, 2023
UPDATE. April 9, 2023.
This bill passed through the Senate and has a Hearing Scheduled in the Government Efficiency and Downsizing–(8:00 a.m. – HR 6) on April 12.
We spoke with Rep. Jim Murphy on April 6th and he said he’s not going to stop Sen. Justin Brown’s bill and he will support it because he doesn’t think that local government should regulate the course of veterinary medicine.
We asked him if he would introduce a bill to ban declawing statewide and he said he might do that and would entertain that idea and to send him the info. He said he couldn’t introduce it until January. He said he loves animals. Please email Rep. Jim Murphy and ask him to introduce a bill to ban declawing in the state of Missouri.
Phone 573 751 3719. Email. [email protected]
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UPDATE FEB. 7, 2022.
This bill was voted on in the Senate committee and passed 6-1. Senator Jason Bean now has the power to move this bill on Thursday, Feb. 9th, to the Senate for a full vote.
The following Republican Senators voted YES to move this bill that will overturn the St. Louis and St. Louis County declawing bans and prevent any future declawing bans:
Senator Justin Brown (sponsor of SB 115) [email protected].
Senator Justin Brown is sponsoring Senate bill 115 and Rep. Jim Murphy is sponsoring House Bill 801, and these bills will erase the declawing ban in St. Louis and St. Louis County and will prohibit any future declawing bans in cities in Missouri if they pass.
(On April 6, Rep. Jim Murphy said that he is not going to move his bill but will support Sen. Justin Brown’s bill.)
Yes, you heard right. Senator Justin Brown and Jim Murphy are trying to eliminate bills in St. Louis & St. Louis County that are protecting cats from this animal cruelty and will prevent any future bills from passing that would protect cats from this cruelty in Missouri cities.
These bills were made under the weak excuse that they will protect the veterinary profession from government overreach but the awful truth is they were specifically made to overturn the bans on declawing and to prevent any more bans in other cities in Missouri.
Leaders with the veterinary medical associations claim, what’s next? A group might want to ban spay and neutering. This is all fear mongering and smoke and mirrors folks.
Declawing is a non-therapeutic and mutilating amputation procedure that causes cats to be relinquished to shelters and often killed because they have behavioral issues like not using the litter box and biting from the pain and discomfort in their mutilated paws and no one wants to adopt them.
That’s why all these weak excuses from the veterinary medical associations that it’s not good for government to tell them how to practice medicine is hogwash. Declawing is below the standard of care in vet med, that’s why all the big ethical companies are taking a stand to protect innocent cats from it and are banning it. It doesn’t belong in the scope of veterinary medicine anymore. Declawing is below the standard of care in veterinary medicine.
Spay and neutering are considered therapeutic because it prevents certain cancers, there are some health benefits to them, and helps with the overpopulation of animals and is the only way of preventing too many animals from getting killed in the shelters.
By the way, declawing was banned in NY state in 2019 and there have been NO BILLS introduced to ban spay and neutering or to take away any other procedures from veterinarians. That’s all just smoke and mirror excuses to pretend like they don’t want gov. overreach and it’s to stop declawing bans.
A declawing bill would be equivalent to having bills to ban surgical procedures like boob jobs for 15 year old girls or plastic surgery on young children because some unethical medical doctors are doing those procedures to kids for profits.
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If you are one of Senator Justin Brown or Rep. Jim Murphy’s constituents, please send them a polite email or call and let them know that you aren’t happy with them for doing this.
Ask Sen. Justin Brown if he is trying to protect a valuable source of revenue for his family’s vet clinic that is performing 3-4 guillotine clipper declaws a week according to a long time employee who works there. (This is the most mutilating method of declawing. The employee also said they don’t send the cats home with any pain meds.)
Justin Brown. 573 751-5713 Email- [email protected]
Rep. Jim Murphy 573 751 3719. Email- [email protected]
This might explain why Sen. Justin Brown is sponsoring this bill.
(As you read these shocking details about declawing at his family’s vet clinic in Rolla, MO, remember these words that Sen. Justin Brown wrote in a post on his facebook page on Jan 27, 2023., “As the son of a veterinarian, the protection of animal health and welfare was ingrained in my heart as a child.”)
Missouri Senator Justin Brown ‘s father was former Missouri state Sen. Dan “Doc” Brown.
Senator Dan “Doc” Brown passed away on May 11, 2021, at age 70. “Doc” Brown was a veterinarian and worked at and owner Brown Veterinary Clinic in Rolla, MO.
A long time employee at this clinic said Doc Brown worked there until he died in 2021. His wife Kathy still owns this clinic.
An employee at Brown Veterinary Clinic said that Dan “Doc” Brown was their main surgery guy and used to do their declaws along with Dr Angie Winfrey.
Employee was asked if “Doc” Brown did a lot of declaws and the employee said, “Yep.”
The employee said that Dr Angie Winfrey does their declaws and she uses the clipper (guillotine) method to declaw the cats. (The clipper method is the old school and most mutilating method.)
The employee said that a two paw declaw is $125 and if you want a 4 paw declaw it’s an additional $125 and said that the cats stay two nights after the declaw.
When asked about the recovery at the clinic, the employee said they have to be confined so they don’t “bust the scabs open.”
The employee said the cats walk a little gingerly on their feet for about a week then after that they start healing up and doing better and they are a little “ouchy” for a little bit.
They said that they give the cat an injection at the hospital and that helps with pain for a couple days but they don’t give any take home pain meds because they said there’s not too much out there that is tolerable.
The employee said Dr Angie Winfrey does a lot of declaws on Fridays and the cats stay the weekend and said they probably do 3-4 declaws a week.
Winfrey is a member of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). https://www.movma.org/members/?id=26092767
When asked if the cats are ok long term after their declaws, the employee said they haven’t had any problems with the healing part. The employee said they usually don’t do all four feet declaws.
The majority of veterinarians in Missouri declaw cats.
Most of them are members of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MOVMA).
Senator Justin Brown received $5200 from the MOVMA.
Sen. Justin Brown posted this on his facebook page on Jan. 31, 2023.
The other legislator who is sponsoring House Bill No. 801, is Rep. Jim Murphy.
Jim Murphy is in a St. Louis Today story about this bill in 2022 and it said, “Murphy, a south St. Louis County Republican, said the local bans overstep the bounds of regulating animals. “It’s the state’s responsibility to license and decide what’s proper for veterinarians to do,”
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We sent Senator Justin Brown some questions for this story but haven’t heard back yet. Here they are:
Here’s another long time MOVMA member vet who is supporting these bills to overturn the ban on declawing in St Louis and St Louis County. Dr James Crago says that declawing needs to be a discussion between the vet and the client about what’s best for the cat. (Declawing never benefits a cat.) https://www.movma.org/members/?id=26093103