9 Declawing AAHA Hospitals Were Handpicked By AAHA Consultants For Their 2025 Practice of the Year Contest And Praised As Delivering Gold Standard Care.
Out of the 17 general practice* finalists for AAHA’s 2025 Practice of the Year, according to employees who work there, nine perform declawing—a painful, unnecessary amputation procedure condemned by leading animal welfare and veterinary organizations.
AAHA publicly “strongly opposes” declawing but rewards AAHA hospitals that perform it.
No Mercy for Cats: AAHA’s Failure to Stop Allowing Declawing Shows Money Matters More Than Cat Welfare
Cat mutilation and torture masquerading as the best in veterinary medicine: Many of AAHA’s Standard of Excellence Accredited Animal Hospitals declaw cats. AAHA allows their accredited animal hospitals to declaw cats for profit, advertise their declawing services, and lie about it to their clients and to the public. They also allow their veterinarians to submit […]
Why Does AAHA.org Lie About Declawing and Why Do They Put Profits Over The Welfare of Cats And Allow Declawing In Their Animal Hospitals?
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) updated their declawing position statement in June 2021.
They say they strongly oppose declawing, explaining that declawing is no longer a reasonable or supported procedure… But then they say if veterinarians are going to declaw, they should use pain meds before, during, and after.
Will AAHA’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jessica Vogelsang, Be Able To Inspire AAHA to Ban Declawing in their hospitals?
In 2021 AAHA.org hired a new Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jessica Vogelsang.
AAHA says that they are strongly opposed to declawing, that veterinarians should tell their clients that it is a procedure that is no longer supported or reasonable yet they allow it in their AAHA Accredited Animal Hospitals. Many of them perform this inhumane amputation on a regular basis, they advertise declawing, put out declawing coupons, and lie about it and say that the cats are ok long term after they are declawed.
We are optimistic that Dr Vogelsang will be the progressive, ethical, and humane veterinary leader at AAHA who sees the value in doing the right thing, being on the right side of this issue and history, and will inspire AAHA to put the welfare of all animals first and ban declawing in their AAHA accredited animal hospitals.