Pennsylvania City Bans Declawing Cats - Should More Cities Do the Same?

What’s the story? 

• A city in Pennsylvania made the declawing of cats illegal, imposing a $500 fine for any resident who breaks the new law. 
• The city council of Allentown, PA, unanimously voted to ban the inhumane practice, excepting only illness, infection, or other therapeutic purposes.

What is declawing?

• The most common declawing procedure, known as onychectomy, amputates all or part of a cat’s toe bones and attached claws. The surgery removes portions of the paw's bone fragments, tendons, nerves, and ligaments and causes emotional distress. 
• Declawing is often compared to cutting off a human’s fingers or toes at the top knuckle joint. 
• A common misconception is that declawing is similar to a manicure, which permanently trims a cat's nails to prevent unwanted scratching. 

What they’re saying

• Some veterinary societies oppose banning the procedure. The New York State Veterinary Medical Society, the state’s largest veterinary organization, said in a memo:

“Medical decisions should be left to the sound discretion of fully trained, licensed and state supervised professionals.” 

• In 2019, the American Veterinary Medical Association revised its declawing policy to explicitly discourage the procedure while still deferring to veterinarians to use their professional judgment. Some professionals call for better education on cat behavior and alternatives to declawing rather than widespread bans. 
• Animal rights advocates point to several health effects that could result from declawing procedures, including infection, long-lasting health complications, and a higher likelihood of chronic paw and back pain. While studies on post-procedure behavioral problems vary, the surgery is known to be painful, and advocate groups argue it is unnecessary and unethical. 

Similar laws

• This year, Maryland became the second U.S. state to ban declawing after New York outlawed the procedure in 2019. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, and at least 42 countries have some form of declawing bans. 
• Declawing is illegal in the United Kingdom under the Animal Welfare Act of 2006, which states that anyone convicted of declawing could face up to a year in prison and/or a £20,000 fine. Israel’s parliament made it a criminal offense to declaw cats in 2011, with similar punishment to the U.K. 
• Early this year, Quebec moved to ban the declawing of cats and other non-essential animal procedures, including devocalization, tail docking, and ear cropping, except when deemed medically necessary by a veterinarian. Cat declawing is already illegal in most Canadian provinces. 
• Declawing is also banned in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, and more. 

Do you want to see similar legislation in your area?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/epantha)