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WHAT YOU CAN DO —

CIRCULATE A PETITION

Gathering signatures on petitions is one of the most powerful ways to inform state legislators that banning declawing is an important issue. By asking people to sign a petition you are also teaching people that declawing is inhumane—amputating a cat's toes has no health benefits for cats.

Gathering signatures on a petition is easy — Here's How

DOWNLOAD PETITION (PDF)

Petition for State of California

1.  Download and print the petitions and fill them with the signatures of your friends and family.

2.  A great way to fill up a petition is to stand in front of your local grocery store, pet supply store, theater, or restaurant.

3.  When you are finished collecting signatures on the petition, please send it to the Paw Project:

Paw Project
PO Box 445
Santa Monica, CA 90406-0445

4.  Please include your name, so we can acknowledge you on the Paw Project website's "Kitty Crusader" page.

When we have collected thousands of signatures, we will show California legislators that banning the declawing of cats is the will of the people!

WRITE A LETTER NOW

EIGHT CALIFORNIA CITIES HAVE APPROVED BANS ON CAT DECLAWING

Beverly Hills approved a declaw ban on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 and Los Angeles did the same on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. Both ordinances passed unanimously. The story of the LA ordinance made the front page of the LA Times.

On October 27, 2009 the Santa Monica City Council voted to pass the ban on declawing 6–1. All seven Councilmembers spoke out against declawing for owner convenience and against "packaging" declaw surgery with spaying and neutering. Three non-local CVMA vets and two other persons testified against the ban. About 40 people showed up to support the ban, including five or six local, CVMA-member vets and a representative of HSVMA. Over 20 people testified in favor of a ban. At the second reading on November 10, the ban was passed. The Berkeley declaw ban passed the same day

Please take a moment to contact your California state representatives and go on record expressing your support for a ban on declawing domestic cats.

Writing a letter is easy and effective — Here's How

1.  Write a polite, personalized letter or email. (Letters that are sent or faxed are more effective than emails.) If you have any personal experience with declawing, especially negative ones, please include your story in the letter, using the first person, "I", to be more compelling. Communicating a message that is concise, positive and proactive is far more persuasive than a long, critical message with a negative tone.

2.   Click here to view a Sample Letter (Be sure to personalize the sample letter and make it your own)

3.  For updates, please join The Paw Project mailing list.

Click here to see KCET's video on the declawing controversy

 

Who opposes Bans on Declawing?

In 2009, the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) sponsored SB 762, which will become state law in 2010. It will prohibit local governments from enacting declaw bans, such as the one in West Hollywood.

SB 762 is identical to a 2008 bill, AB 2427, which despite efforts by members of The Paw Project and other animal welfare organizations, passed in both the California Senate and Assembly. The bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

In 2003, the city of West Hollywood passed the nation's first ban on declawing, which is an amputation of the toe bone containing the claw. It is currently illegal for any person in the City of West Hollywood to declaw any animal without a medical reason, such as injury, infection, or disease that requires the removal claw.

The California Veterinary Medical Association contends that local laws are a restriction of veterinary practice and that a local government may not pass such a law. West Hollywood's position is that has the right to prohibit anyone from performing a procedure it considers cruel. Declawing is already illegal or considered unethical in most of the rest of the world.

Why does the CVMA want to protect a procedure that is widely considered to be inhumane?

Veterinarians want to protect their ability to declaw cats despite the fact that their colleagues in most other nations consider declawing a violation of professional ethics. California vets' British brethren officially list declawing as "mutilation" and as an "unacceptable practice." The AVMA admonishes veterinarians to treat the behavioral causes of unwanted scratching before resorting to surgery, but one need only perform a quick internet search to see that declawing is actively marketed to veterinary clients. It is even offered in discounted package deals with routine spaying and neutering. This practice is known in the veterinary world as "supersizing" a spay (or neuter).

Why the fuss over declawing?

The bill was not actually about the moral or medical merits of declawing. It is about the right of a community to set its own standards about which activities are acceptable within its jurisdiction. The precedents set by this bill will have far-reaching effects for communities dealing with thhis and other animal welfare issues indefinitely.

Write a letter to the CVMA

Tell the CVMA to back off and to use more of their time and resources for helping animals

CVMA Officers:

Mark Nunez, DVM, CVMA President
14931 Oxnard Street
Van Nuys, CA 91411
Business: (818) 786-1651
Fax: (818) 786-0121
E-mail: drmarknunez@msn.com

Dean Henricks, DVM, CVMA President-Elect
7404 Auburn Blvd.
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
Business: (916) 725-2700

William Grant II, DVM, CVMA Past-President
13200 Euclid Street
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Business: (714) 537-5390
Fax: (714) 537-1971
E-mail: Vets4Pets@aol.com

 

CVMA Staff:

Executive Director, Valerie Fenstermaker
1400 River Park Drive, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95815
Phone: 916-649-0599 - Voice Mail #32
Fax: 916-646-9156
E-mail address: vfenstermaker@cvma.net

Assistant Executive Director, Dan Segna, DVM
1400 River Park Drive, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95815
Phone: 916-649-0599 - Voice Mail #36
Fax: 916-646-9156
E-mail address: dsegna@cvma.net

 

 

Together We Have Made A Difference!

Feline declawing affords no benefits to the health or well-being of the animal, but instead produces health or behavioral problems in many cases.

View cases studies in which declawing has proven to be harmful »

In recognition of this important animal welfare issue, former California Assembly member Paul Koretz (D-42nd District) introduced California State Assembly Bill AB 1857, which bans the practice of declawing of captive wild and exotic cats, such as tigers, lions, and cougar in the State of California.

AB 1857 was the first bill of its kind in the United States. It was passed by the California State Assembly on May 17, 2004, by the California Senate on August 24, 2004, and was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The passage of AB 1857 in California demonstrated that grassroots compaigns can be effective. You can make a difference in your community and your state! Start at the local level.

The Paw Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that exists to increase public awareness about animal welfare and animal cruelty issues related to the crippling effects of cat declawing, to rehabilitate declawed exotic and wild cats, and to end the practice of declaw surgery or onychectomy on domestic cats and feral felines.