OCEAN CITY, Md. - New legislation in Annapolis could prohibit veterinarians from performing certain declawing procedures on cats, unless it's necessary for a therapeutic purpose. The bill would also authorize the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners to suspend or revoke licenses for vets that willfully violate the law. One of Maria Love's cats is declawed, but she is against it and says there are other measures out there.
“You can clip their nails, just like you can clip your nails you don't want to go all the way to the quick on a cat you just tip it, and it comes back dull and the more you clip it the duller it becomes and then the cats learn to not use it as much and then they stay more dull,” Love said.
Opponents of the declawing bill say it protects furniture and keeps cats from scratching people or other animals, but cat owners like Corrie Ivey say they would never have the procedure done.
“I just don't think it's humane, I just don't think anyone should declaw an animal, this is their nature, this is a part of their body,” Ivey said.
The procedure takes the last joint of a cat's toe, similar to cutting off the last knuckle on a finger which pet groomer Katherine Slaughter says can cause problems.
“A lot of times the nail will start to grow back inside the foot so the cat has some pain, it sometimes causes litter box aversion to where they can't scratch any longer to get in the box so they will start going outside the litter box,” Slaughter said.
The bill is on its 3rd reading in the senate.