Story published May 2022
In January, 2022, the AVMA sent a letter of opposition to the Maryland anti-declawing bill.
(This bill was signed by the Governor of MD in April 2022. Maryland is the 2nd state to ban declawing.)
The AVMA used the usual weak excuses to condone this barbaric animal cruelty and also said, “Declawing is a controversial procedure; however, we speak for the profession in voicing our opposition to HB 22 and ask that every effort be made to ensure that veterinarians retain their ability to apply their professional judgment when it comes to medical and surgical decisions that impact the health and welfare of their patients.”
Here’s our rebuttal to the AVMA’s declawing position statement. When anyone uses the AVMA’s position to defend this animal cruelty, please show them this. Rebuttal of the AVMA’s declawing position
Here’s the AVMA’s revised declawing policy that still condones it for the human health excuse. AVMA’s 2020 Declawing Policy
The AVMA Speaks For Their Declawing Veterinarians In Voicing Their Opposition to The Anti-Declawing Bills.
Link to Capital City spay and neuter clinic’s website. Capital City Spay & Neuter website
We wanted to see how this low cost spay and neuter clinic in Ohio addresses declawing so we asked for the cost of a declaw, if declawing is ok for a cat long term, and what vet does the declaws.
The employee said that a 4 paw declaw is $260 and they sell you a $6 bag of Purina’s Yesterdays News after a declaw.
(Here’s the link to our story about Purina’s mutually beneficial relationship with declawing veterinarians.)Purina and declawing veterinarians
They said that Dr Christinna Murphy does their declaws, she uses a scalpel, and she’s been a vet for 20 years.
Researcher asked if Dr Murphy does declaws regularly and the employee said, “She’s been practicing for 20 years, yes.”
Researcher asked if declawing is ok for a cat long term. The employee said that it is as long as you follow post op instructions.
The employee was asked about the information on the internet that says declawing is bad for a cat and they said, “Well the internet has a lot of misinformation, so as long as you follow post op instructions that we recommend, the cat does great after the procedure.”
The employee said you can just drop off the cat for the exam/declaw.
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Here are some declawing reviews on YELP about declawing and this clinic.
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Dr Tom House is a 35 year member of the AVMA.
Here’s a April 21, 2022 photo that Dr Tom House’s wife posted on her FB page.
Dr Tom House took a young relative to his vet clinic to let them HELP with a spay/declaw procedure.
We wanted to see how this Texas clinic addresses declawing so our researcher made a quick phone call asking for the cost of a spay/declaw and if declawing is ok for a cat. (We reached out to the owner vet of this animal hospital to ask him some questions about this for our story but didn’t get a reply.)
Here’s what we found.
Employee at Jarrell Animal Hospital in Jarrell, TX said that Dr Tom House is their declawing vet and a spay/declaw is around $700.
Researcher asked if he uses a laser and employee said no, he uses a scalpel to take it off right behind the nail.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said, “Yes, that’s the way they have been doing it for years before the laser.”
“We are not seeing as many declaws now as you used to but he’s been practicing for decades.”
Researcher asked why. Employee said, “People’s preference. They are going to be painful until the first week until it’s healed.”
Are there any long term problems? Employee said no. they said, “Once it’s healed in a week to 10 days, they are going to be fine. “
Also, Dr Tom House’s wife claims she’s in the veterinary profession and called other people ignorant when they tried to educate people about the FACTS about declawing. She also made up an organization, The National Board of Veterinarians, and claimed they deem declawing safe.
JAVMA gives a platform to an AVMA declawing vet who uses no pain meds
Painless Cat Declawing Lies by an AVMA vet