Story published on August 6, 2021
We have hope. AAHA hired a new Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jessica Vogelsang in 2021. She is against declawing and in 2016 wrote, ““Tail crops, ear docks, declaws, and debarking for any reason other than the health of the pet should go the way of the dodo.” Here’s our story about Dr Vogelsang and declawing. Dr Jessica Vogelsang’s opinion about declawing
Please sign our petition to AAHA.org. We are almost at 50,000 signatures. AAHA Petition
Are the leaders of AAHA.org confused? If you know any of them, please ask them why AAHA won’t ban declawing. AAHA.org “leaders.”
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has over 50,000 veterinary team members representing 4,500+ animal hospitals and they updated their declawing position statement in June 2021.
AAHA charges around $1500 a year to be an AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
1) One of AAHA’s MANDATORY STANDARDS is, “Practice team members demonstrate humane care of animals.”
Does AAHA believe that declawing is humane care for cats?
AAHA’s double standard. AAHA’s double standard
2) In their 2021 position statement AAHA says that they strongly oppose declawing and that vets should tell cat owners why it is no longer supported and why it is not a reasonable procedure, yet AAHA ultimately condones declawing by saying if it’s going to be done, then use pain meds before, during, and after. AAHA’s Declawing Position Statement
3) The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA)- AAHA emailed us and some of our supporters in July 2021 and said, “We strive to uphold standards of veterinary excellence, but we do not instruct veterinarians how to practice medicine.”
THAT’S A BIG LIE!
In 2013 AAHA told their veterinarians that they cannot perform nonanesthetic or anesthesia-free dental cleaning procedures because it is unacceptable and below the standard of care. AAHA also said nonanesthesia dental cleaning procedures are not appropriate because of patient stress and injury.
Also one of AAHA’s MANDATORY STANDARDS is, “Practice team members demonstrate humane care of animals.”
AAHA has 900 Standards of Care in a 49 page manual and they tell their veterinarians how to practice medicine in many of their MANDATORY STANDARDS or else they can’t be an AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
4) AAHA was one of the first veterinary organizations to speak out against declawing. Now they are one of the last to allow it.
VCA, Banfield, American Assoc. of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), Mission Veterinary Partners, Modern Animal, Bond Vet, PetCo, Petsmart, Ethos vet, and Fear Free Pets have banned declawing in their practices.
(April 2022. National Veterinary Associates (NVA) with over 1000 clinics in America told us they are committed to no longer allow declawing and will end it in 1/2 their practices within 3-5 months and work on the rest of them.)
5) Even though AAHA has been strongly opposed to declawing, they came out with a Declaw Communications Toolkit in 2016 to HELP their AAHA Accredited declawing hospitals. Here’s some of the info that’s on their website for their declawing vets. AAHA Declawing Staff Training Guide AAHA Declawing Social Media Responses
6) There are 30 veterinary colleges in America and 2 of those vet colleges still perform declawing in their clinics. One of them is an AAHA hospital. Most of the vet college hospitals who were the last ones to stop offering declawing are AAHA Accredited Animal Hospitals.
Here’s the story. Declawing and Veterinary Colleges
7) AAHA gives their AAHA Hospital of the Year Award to vet practices that declaw lots of cats. Here’s our story about AAHA’s 2020 Declawing Animal Hospital of the Year, Manheim Pike Veterinary Hospital in Lancaster, PA. Manheim Pike Veterinary Hospital Declaws Cats
8) AAHA sicced their lawyers on us and forced us to take down some of their declawing info and logo from our stories after we published the story about how their 2020 Animal Hospital of the Year declaws lots of cats. We are shining light on the FACTS on how AAHA ultimately condones declawing even though they say they are strongly opposed to it. Here’s our press release about this intimidation. AAHA Sicced Their Lawyers On Us
9) Here is a story about 3 cats who were declawed at an AAHA hospital after the vets talked the owners out of the humane alternatives. The 3 cats had horrific complications and had to have most of their paws amputated. AAHA did nothing about this and the veterinary medical board let them off the hook.
Horrific story about 3 cats who were declawed at an AAHA hospital
10) Many AAHA Accredited Animal Hospitals declaw cats. Many of them list their declawing services and information on their websites. Here’s our story about many of these AAHA hospitals and their declawing info and how they are often not honest about their credentials. AAHA Declawing Hospitals
Here’s another story with examples of AAHA declawing clinics. AAHA declawing animal hospitals
It’s our opinion based on years of research that AAHA doesn’t want to lose the money they receive from their AAHA Accredited Declawing Animal Hospitals if they were to not allow declawing like they did for non-anesthesia dentals in 2013. After all, AAHA has a lot of BIG salaries to pay their top executives as you can see in this 2019 tax form.
11) The ASPCA refers pet owners to AAHA accredited animal hospitals. The ASPCA doesn’t want declawing banned. Is AAHA paying the ASPCA for this referral service and to help keep declawing legal so that their AAHA Accredited Declawing hospitals can keep profiting from this inhumane, cruel, and mutilating amputation procedure? The ASPCA doesn’t support banning declawing.
12) American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) banned declawing on July 1, 2021. Some Cat Friendly Practices/AAHA Animal Hospitals stopped being a CAT FRIENDLY Practice so they could keep declawing cats. Here’s an example of one of these AAHA Animal Hospitals that chose to keep declawing over being a CAT FRIENDLY Practice. AAHA Animal Hospital Cascade Hospital for Animals Chose Declawing over Being a Cat Friendly Practice
13) AAHA declawing veterinarians fight to keep this cruelty legal and AAHA won’t stop them. AAHA vets fight to keep cruelty legal.
14) Declawing was banned in Austin, TX in March of 2021.
Here’s an AAHA hospital that performs declaws regularly and has an Austin, TX address however it appears it is right outside the city limit.
Austin Veterinary Diagnostic Hospital. 9324 C. Highway 290 West
Austin, TX 78736
They have laser declawing on their website. Laser declaw
October 2023 – The employee said that if you do a neuter/declaw you would get a “package price” since you aren’t being charged for anesthesia twice. A neuter/declaw is $968. The employee said that all their doctors are able to do declaws and they use a laser and it helps with healing, there’s less pain, the recovery time is faster and there’s less chance for infection. Studies show that laser declawing is not better than a scalpel. Here’s the info in #8 of our facts vs myths section. https://citythekitty.org/declawing-facts-vs-myths-humane-options/
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term and the employee said, “To our knowledge yes. We don’t seem to have any problems with the long term use of laser declaw.”
Researcher asked if they perform declaws regularly and the employee said, “Yes, we get a lot of referrals for that.”
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August 2021 – The employee says that a two paw declaw is $694.58 and a 4 paw declaw is $927.43. They said that it is cheaper if you do the declaw and neuter at the same time. They said that they do laser declaws and every cat heals differently and some cats tend to show signs of limping but it’s typically going to not be permanent and just until they heal. They said that they recommend a consultation with one of their doctors to ask any questions. They said that they have two doctors that can do the declaws and their website lists Dr Sarah Kneupper and Dr Jeremy Varga.
Here’s another AAHA hospital with an Austin address that is offering declawing. Griffith Small Animal Hospital.AAHA
15) Is this an example of why AAHA won’t ban declawing?
Do they not want to lose the membership dues from their declawing veterinarians like this one who own animal hospitals that are AAHA accredited?
This comment by Dr Robert Tope was made on AAHA’s Facebook page in 2013.
AAHA said in this 2013 post, “Did you know? AAHA is opposed to the declawing of domestic cats. A new documentary, “The Paw Project Movie,” details the anti-declawing grassroots movement that has gained ground thanks to Dr. Jennifer Conrad and The Paw Project. Check out the documentary’s trailer below!”
AAHA was one of the first veterinary organizations to come out against declawing yet now they are one of the last to ban it.
As this post indicates, AAHA seemed happy that Dr Conrad’s PawProject.org efforts were gaining ground to end this animal cruelty.
It seems very strange that AAHA wouldn’t also do their part to end this inhumane amputation procedure considering in 2013 AAHA told their veterinarians that they cannot perform non-anesthetic or anesthesia-free dental cleaning procedures because they are unacceptable and below the standard of care. AAHA also said nonanesthesia dental cleaning procedures are not appropriate because of patient stress and injury.
In AAHA’s 2021 position statement they say that they are strongly opposed to declawing and that veterinarians should tell clients that it is no longer a reasonable procedure and shouldn’t be supported.
Do you think the reason is because they are heeding these warnings from their declawing veterinarians and they don’t want to take away this barbaric, cruel, inhumane and very unnecessary amputation procedure from them?
(May, 2022 UPDATE. According to an employee at Dr Robert Tope’s AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital, Electric City Animal Clinic, in South Carolina, Dr Mark Finke, Dr Tim Herold, and Dr Robert Tope perform their declaws and use a blade. When the employee was asked if the cats are ok after a declaw, the employee said, “Yes, of course.” The employee was asked if there are any long term issues from a declaw and they laughed and said that’s a matter of opinion and you can talk to the doctor about that.)
16)MythsHere’s a July 26, 2021 note we received from AAHA.
AAHA banned nonanesthesia dentals in 2013 and they have many MANDATORY standards that their hospitals must follow so they DO instruct veterinarians how to practice medicine.
“Dear City the Kitty,
We understand the close bond that pet owners share with their pets. This communication will serve as an acknowledgement of your complaint against AAHA. It is unfortunate that your experience with our organization does not meet your expectations. AAHA is a nonregulatory organization with voluntary membership. We strive to uphold standards of veterinary excellence, but we do not instruct veterinarians how to practice medicine.
AAHA’s position statement states that we strongly oppose the declawing of domestic cats and support veterinarians’ efforts to educate cat owners while providing effective alternatives. If declawing is deemed necessary, it is done with multimodal pain control before, during, and for an appropriate length of time after the surgery. Our full position statement on declawing can be found at aaha.org.
Thank you for contacting us about your concern.
Sincerely,
Margaret, BA, CVT
Membership Audit and Control Committee Co-Chair
AAHA Practice Consultant”
PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION TO AAHA. WE NEED TO GET TO 50,000 SIGNATURES. (No need to donate to change. org to sign it.) AAHA Petition
Please send a polite note to AAHA.org and ask them if they are confused about all of this. aaha@aaha.org
Let us know if you get a reply! citythekitty@gmail.com
It’s our opinion that AAHA.org doesn’t want to ban declawing because they don’t want to lose the membership revenue from their declawing animal hospitals. It’s completely possible that some of the revenue that AAHA gets from their declawing animal hospitals comes from performing this inhumane, mutilating, and barbaric amputation procedure.
Know the facts. Here’s our declaw facts section that has been reviewed and fact checked my many accomplished veterinarians who are experts in this area. Declaw Facts vs Myths
More examples of AAHA hospitals and declawing.
2024.
Cats Only Veterinary Hospital. Norristown, PA. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Link to this AAHA hospital’s declaw info. https://catsonlyvethosp.com/laser-surgery/
A neuter/2 paw declaw is $542.76. They said that Dr Ask does their declaws and he uses a laser and they find the recovery time is significantly better.
Researcher asked if their vet does declaws regularly and the employee said, “Yes, we do a ton of them” and said, “we do them everyday.”
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term and the employee said yes.
Here are some of Cats Only Veterinary Hospital’s declawing reviews from Yelp and Google.
Animal Hospital of Dauphin County, Harrisburg, PA. AAHA accredited animal hospital.
Link to this page on their website. https://www.ahdcvets.com/services/surgery/
A neuter/2 paw declaw is around $1000-$1200.
The employee said Dr Bob Sarsfield and Dr Audrey Zajac do their declaws.
They said their other doctors don’t declaw because they don’t like to do it and it’s not necessary in most cases.
Researcher asked if they are skilled at the declaw procedure and the employee said, “Yes, they do it all the time.”
Researcher asked if a declaw is ok for a cat long term and the employee said it’s a service they offer because some people need it done but they encourage to not have cats declawed.
They said there is no reason to declaw the back claws on a cat.
They said they use a laser and said it’s better because the old style doesn’t make a clean incision and the laser has less inflammation and is better the whole way around.
Coventry Animal Hospital. Pottstown, PA. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Link to this page with declawing. https://www.coventryanimalhospital.net/surgery/type/feline-declaw
The employee said they will only do 2 paw declaw for medical issues and you need to have a doctor’s note saying that you have to get your cat declawed because you have a health condition or something like that.
Researcher asked why they don’t declaw and the employee said it’s becoming illegal in certain areas of PA. They said they try to educate you on what else you can do without declawing.
Researcher asked if it’s bad for a cat and the employee said, “Yea it is bad for a cat, it will cause arthritis down the line, they can’t defend themselves.”
2023
Brook Falls Veterinary Hospital. Menomonee Falls, WI. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital. 2023
Link to this info on Brook Fall’s website. https://www.brookfallsveterinary.com/services/cats
The employee said that they can’t give out an estimate but that they perform declaws. The employee said they have 8 vets and they all perform declaws. The employee said that declaws are a regular procedure.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said, “From what I know, yes.”
Wyllow Pet Hospital. Beaver Dam, WI. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital. 2023
Link to this info on Wyllow Pet Hospital’s website. http://www.wyllowpethospital.com/Services.html
A neuter/declaw is $392 – $422. The employee said they aren’t taking new clients now. They said that they only do two paw declaws because no one does 4 paw declaws anymore.
They said that their vet, Dr Vicky Smith does their declaws. The employee said that in Madison, WI declawing is outlawed.
Researcher asked why it is outlawed and the employee said, “Because it’s kind of cruel. You’re cutting off the first knuckle, all their fingertip bones, you are cutting all those off.” The employee said that the cats are walking around on their nubs.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok after Dr Smith’s declaws and the employee said, “Yea, absolutely.”
Researcher asked if Dr Smith does declaws regularly and the employee said that they aren’t that common anymore and a lot of people like to just clip their cat’s nails and that declaws aren’t that popular anymore.
The employee said more people are concerned on how painful it is for the cat and you should try to do it as young as possible because the more weight they have it’s harder to heal.
Researcher asked if Dr Smith considers declawing to be cruel and the employee said, “Well we are still doing it because it’s not outlawed in Dodge County, and it will probably change everywhere so you won’t be able to do it anymore.”
Researcher asked if a declaw is cruel then why does Dr Smith perform them and the employee said, “Because people still want it. It’s a matter of opinion.”
They said if you are trying to save your furniture or you have an older cat that’s declawed, it’s not fair to have one that is declawed and one that isn’t since then they play and fight and one would get more beat up than the other one.
They said there are circumstances where a declaw makes sense, like if you have furniture you don’t want them to wreck and that people have different reasons for it.
They said in the U.S. people are just looking at it like it’s unnecessary because you can just trim their nails and that’s what they do for their own cat. The employee said that it’s a service that vets offer and until it’s illegal they are probably going to do them to help people.
Swann Animal Clinic, formerly Bushland Veterinary Clinic. Amarillo, TX. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Link to this declawing review on the home page on Bushland Veterinary Clinic’s website. https://bushlandvet.com/
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter. The employee said they like to wait until the cats are 6 months old for a neuter.
Researcher asked how much extra do they charge for a declaw with a neuter and the employee said that if they also do the declaw then they can neuter the cat at 4 months old because they like to do the declaw at that time.
They said that Dr Robin Carlson and Dr Whitney Buntyn can do the declaws. Researcher asked if the vets do declaws regularly and the employee said, “We do them pretty often.”
Researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said, “Usually. We only do front feet here.” The employee said they use a harmonic scalpel for the declaw and said it helps to cauterize it.
Researcher asked if they have an age limit for a declaw. The employee said that they start at 4 months old and they don’t really like to do them when the cats are older.
A neuter/declaw cost is around $300.
Northgate Pet Clinic. Decatur, IL This is an National Veterinary Associates (NVA) Clinic. This is an AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
NVA told us on November 28, 2022 this, “We are proud to share NVA has adopted a stance very similar to the German law you originally cited when you reached out to NVA earlier this year. We do not support elective declawing and it should not be performed. We communicated this to our hospitals.” (The German law only allows declawing for the health of the cat like a tumor or injury.) NVA deceived us to believe that they stopped declawing. Many NVA clinics are still declawing cats. Here’s our story.
The vet at this clinic, Dr Larry Baker, is in this Feb. 3, 2023 TV interview about the anti-declawing bill in Illinois.
Here’s an excerpt from the story, “One veterinarian said that it is mainly because their cat could be tearing up their furniture and scratching. Larry Baker of the Northgate Pet Clinic said that would be one of the benefits to doing the procedure.”
However, he said that the surgery is not performed often and can cause the animal some discomfort afterwards.
Baker said that, overall, he would not encourage people to declaw their cats.
“The best reason to declaw a cat is an owner that likes their cat, gets along with the family well, is they’re ruining the furniture and the owner says, ‘I’m going to have to get rid of that cat or have him declawed,’” Baker said. “Then to me there’s no question about it. I would declaw rather than get rid of the cat.”
Their employee said they have some vets who will do a declaw but you need a consultation with the doctor to get a cost of a declaw.
DuPage Animal Hospital. Illinois. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
(Filed a witness slip to oppose the Illinois bill.)
Researcher asked for the cost of a declaw and the employee said, “Declaw just the front two? Two paws or four paws?”
The said that a 2 paw declaw/neuter $800-$900 and a 4 paw is around $100 extra. They have two doctors that do their declaws. Researcher asked if they do declaws regularly, “Um, yes.”
Researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said, “They should be.”
Sangamon Avenue Veterinary Clinic. Illinois. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
(Filed a witness slip to oppose the bill.) This is the sister clinic to Coble Animal Hospital #12 in our survey.
A Neuter/declaw/microchip is $938. Researcher asked which vets are skilled at the declaw and the employee said, “Every single one of them does those on a regular basis.” Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said yes that there’s a little bit of a healing time of about 2 weeks but that’s with any surgery and they are taking part of their toes off. They have to wear a cone so they don’t mess with their paws. They said they only do the front paws and most places will only do the front paws because if they get out they can still climb and have some kind of protection.
Coble Animal Hospital in Springfield is the sister animal hospital of Sangamon Animal Hospital.
According to an employee at this animal hospital, Dr Joan Saner Reeder is the veterinarian who does their declaws. She is the wife of Scott Reeder, the reporter who wrote this opinion piece in the Telegraph and the Illinois Times on March 23, 2023 about why he feels declawing should not be banned. https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/when-the-claws-come-out/Content?oid=16614062
Dr Sarah Smith of Sangamon Animal Hospital also comes in twice a week for surgeries and also does the declaws.
A spay is around $550 and with a declaw the total could be under $1000. They said that Dr Saner uses the laser for the declaw and said it’s better because it is less painful, it’s more beneficial because the other way could potentially crush the bone fragment, the laser can go through the cartilage rather than going through the bone, the recovery period is much more smooth and quicker. They said the laser is way less invasive and way more comfortable afterwards and they tend to have less side affects.
The employee said that they don’t do declaws every week but Dr Saner has done them and has been a vet for 20 plus years.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said typically. The employee said there are pros and cons to a declaw that you can discuss with the vet.
Teegarden Veterinary Clinic. Illinois. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
This practice used to be a Cat Friendly Practice. (AAFP banned declawing in their CFP in 2021.) Many declawing clinics stopped being a Cat Friendly Practice so they could keep declawing cats.
Researcher asked for the cost of a declaw and the employee asked, “ 2 feet or 4 feet?” A 2 paw declaw/neuter is $377 and a 4 paw declaw/neuter is $432.
They said that Dr Jason Kennell does their declaws. Researcher asked if he does declaws regularly and the employee said yes and said, “It’s something that he has done many times and is comfortable with.”
Researcher asked if the cats are ok and the employee said yes they don’t typically see any issues after but sometimes cats might have a little bleeding if they are jumping off things they are not supposed to be.
VCA Klingele Veterinary Clinic, Quincy, IL. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital
VCA BANNED DECLAWING IN 2020 AND THEY DO NOT ALLOW DECLAWING UNLESS IT’S FOR A MEDICAL REASON FOR THE CAT. We reached out to VCA about how this VCA said that they do declaws for people with health issues but never heard back from them.
Does that mean that VCA is not enforcing their no-declaw policy?
In 2020 VCA told all their clinics, “At the core is our firm belief that we must always do the right thing for our patients and we can no longer support declaw procedures in cats unless there is a medical reason to perform the procedure. Examples include neoplasia, infection, and trauma.”
Did this VCA misinterpret their position or are they making their own rules?
Here’s VCA’s full declawing position. https://citythekitty.org/vca-animal-hospitals-stopped-declawing/
The technician said that they only declaw cats if it’s medically necessary from a doctor and they don’t do it as a cosmetic surgery. They said that if you have a bleeding disorder or immune compromised person then they will do it.
The tech said that they don’t do declaws that often anymore because VCA doesn’t really condone declawing and they only let them do them if it’s medically necessary.
They said that their vet, Dr Jeanie Spooner does their declaws. Dr Spooner is listed as a Fear Free Veterinarian on FearFreePets.com page.
Fear Free does not allow their veterinarians to declaw cats.
Laketown Animal Hospital. Springfield, IL. AAHA ACCREDITED ANIMAL HOSPITAL.
Link to Laketown Animal Hospital’s declawing info page. www.laketownanimalhospital.com/surgery
The employee said that Dr Bret Peterson does declaws regularly. They said that they use a laser and it’s better for the pet. Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said, “Every pet is different so I can’t guarantee how they are going to behave afterwards.” They said they’ve had cats with no problems previously.
Town and Country Veterinary Clinic in Marianette, WI.
AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
A sign like this one was up in their lobby in 2022. 
This AAHA hospital offers traditional and laser declawing for cats and say they have a sign like this up so that their clients know that it’s an option. The employees say that the cats usually recover very quickly and well from declawing.
Creekside Pet Care Center in Keller, TX. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital. This is a Suveto.com clinic.
Here’s the link to their declawing page. https://creeksidepetcare.com/vet-services/surgery/
The employee said that Dr Fischer does their declaws and said she is an amazing surgeon and doctor who is very informative and “takes care of animals really good.”
When asked if she does declaws often, the employee laughed and said she does them pretty much every Friday. When asked if the cats are ok long term after the declaw the employee said, “Yea, they do great.”
The employee said she uses a laser that is a cleaner cut and helps with the recovery time.
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Here are more stories about AAHA Accredited Animal Hospitals and declawing. AAHA Declawing Hospitals
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Always take the high road, be polite, and educate.