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WHAT YOU CAN DO —

URGENT - WRITE A LETTER AND CALL THE GOVERNOR NOW TO SIGN AB 2743
- THIS BILL WILL PROHIBIT CALIFORNIA LANDLORDS FROM
REQUIRING THAT TENANTS DECLAW THEIR CATS
OR DEBARK THEIR DOGS
Please write now!!

Please take a moment to contact Governor Schwarzenegger urge him to sign AB 2743 into law.

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

The full text of AB 2743 is available at this link:
http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2701-2750/ab_2743_bill_20100715_amended_sen_v94.html

Letter should be sent to:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 558-3160

BUT YOUR PHONE CALLS ARE EFFECTIVE TOO, and they are quick and easy to make. Just give your name and address to prove you're a California resident, and a short message urging support for AB 2743. Then ask the message taker to read it back.

The California Veterinary Medical Association is lobbying very hard to kill the bill. CVMA is making its views known to the Governor. It has also sent out an alert to its members stating that it is "strongly opposed" to the bill and urging its members to send letters of opposition to the Governor.

The CVMA is powerful because many legislators automatically support the position held by a trade or business association. Therefore, letters coming in from across the state strongly in support of the law will be necessary. Please inform as many people and groups that care about animals as possible.

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.

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!

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.