A voice for pets in Sacramento
Assemblymember Pedro Nava leads the fight to end mandatory declawing and devocalization
By Shaunacy Ferro 07/01/2010
Local animal rights activists may soon gain traction in banning cat declawing and animal devocalization as the California State Senate reviews a new bill this month that would prohibit landlords from requiring their tenants to declaw or devocalize their animals or from preferring the application of a tenant with a declawed animal.
Assembly Bill 2743, authored by Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Ventura, Santa Barbara), introduces a civil fine of as much as $2,500 for any instance of declawing or devocalization that occurs because of a landlord-tenant agreement.
“We feel, since tenancy is a transient state, where people are moving from apartment to apartment or house to house, they shouldn’t be doing something so permanent to their animals,” said Dr. Jennifer Conrad, veterinarian and founder of the Paw Project, a nonprofit anti-declawing organization sponsoring the bill.
Devocalization, or debarking, involves removing tissue from an animal’s vocal cords in order to lower the volume of the sound it can make and is currently banned in Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Though controversial, declawing is seen to be inhumane by many veterinarians and animal rights activists, because it removes not only the cat’s claws, but also the last digit of each of its toes. It is illegal in many European countries, and was outlawed recently in eight California cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
But according to Nava, despite bans in those cities, it is still common to see declawing or devocalization as a condition of tenancy in rental advertisements.
“The thing that was particularly troubling,” Nava said, “was if you had a landlord that required that procedure, the tenant was put in a real dilemma.”
Under the bill, a tenant whose landlord disobeyed the law could go to a nonprofit organization such as the Humane Society for assistance in bringing a suit.
Officials at the Humane Society and the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department said declawed cats are not common at animal shelters in the area, but they come in more regularly than debarked dogs.
Some say declawing cats leads to destructive behavioral changes, as well as occasionally causing medical complications. Because claws are a cat’s major method of self-defense, some argue that declawed cats are more likely to bite if they feel threatened. Some cats also stop using their litterboxes because it is painful for them to dig in the sand.
“I deterred a woman from actually getting her cat declawed just by pulling out the pictures [of declawing],” said Tami Brown, veterinary technician at the Humane Society in Ojai. In her experience, declawed cats who have come into the shelter have not wanted to use the litterbox and have had trouble walking.
Many veterinarians, Conrad said, package declawing with spaying or neutering, so owners believe they are doing the right thing for the kitten. “They talk about declawing as if it’s some fancy manicure,” she said. “It’s not. It’s removing the last bone. A more accurate term would be ‘deknuckling.’ ”
The California Veterinary Medical Association opposes the bill, according to Dr. Mark Nunez, the association’s president, because although it doesn’t necessarily approve of the procedures, it doesn’t want lawmakers making medical decisions for veterinarians and pet owners.
The association disagrees with the idea that cats experience behavioral changes after declawing and does not want to see language to that effect written into law. Nunez said that although he rarely declaws cats, he has never seen complications arise from the surgery. “Even in the studies that state there is an increasing risk of biting, the numbers are always in the minority,” he said.
However, the California Apartment Association supports the bill, as it encourages landlords to make pet owners responsible for their pets’ behavior.
“We just don’t think declawing or devocalizing animals is right,” said Eric Wiegers, vice president of communication for the California Apartment Association, which represents more than 17,000 members and their employees in the state.
There are a few alternatives to declawing, such as using a scratching post, trimming the nails or using Soft Paws, vinyl caps that cover a cat’s claws and prevent them from scratching.
For many, scratching activities are behavioral problems that can be fixed with training. “If you have a kid that bites his nails, you don’t chop off his fingers,” Conrad said.
For those who want to help animals in need, the band Champagne Sunday will be playing a benefit show for Fun-E-Bone Pet Rescue at the Christian Church of Thousand Oaks this Friday, July 2, from 5 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.
Opposed to AB 2743? You can send letters to state legislators and the governor asking them to vote against the bill by visiting the California Veterinary Medical Assocation’s website at www.cvma.net.
shaunacyferro@gmail.com
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