Search Here

The Assembly committee of New Jersey just recently approved a bill banning veterinarians to perform cat declawing, which is said to be inhumane. The said procedure may soon be illegal if the bill is approved in legislature.

Last Monday, Nov. 14, the Assembly committee proposed a bill and eventually approved it to ban declawing in the state. New Jersey could be the very first state to do so, but not the first one to propose it. Back in May, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal also sponsored a similar bill in Albany, but this has yet to see approval in legislature.

Declawing has not been banned statewide, but six cities in California including Los Angeles do, reports the Independent. Many European nations like Great Britain have also banned the inhumane and disfiguring procedure.

Declawing is not just trimming nails, but the procedure involves cutting off the bone of each toe according to the Veterinary Medical Society. To better understand the procedure, it is likened to cutting off the fingers of people from the last knuckle.

The New Jersey bill will impose a fine of $1,000 dollars and six months jail tie to vets and cat owners who do not abide by the law, given that it will receive legislative approval as reported in the Huffington Post.

However, some veterinarians are uncertain if the law will be good for the cats especially those with scratching behavior problems. Declawing can potentially save a cat's life when owners resort to euthanasia if scratching becomes destructive. New Jersey veterinarian Jim Nelson believes that declawing is not that painful as many are made to believe, citing spaying and neutering as more invasive.

The bill does have exceptions, allowing declawing for medical purposes only as shared by CBS Philly. As a general rule, the bill considers declawing as an act of animal cruelty. Even some veterinarians are supportive of the bill like the New York veterinarian Eileen Jefferson who says that declawing is an unnecessary and "misguided procedure."