I make between $75,000 and $80,000 a year from declawing
I make between $75,000 and $80,000 a year from declawing – so said a veterinarian to Dr. Jennifer Conrad of the Paw Project. He said that he declaws every cat that comes through the door of his butchers shop…sorry surgery. Clearly this monster of a vet does not say anything to his clients about the negative aspects of declawing and how it can and should be avoided. On the contrary, he must highly recommend the operation. It takes under 10 minutes per paw and the charge is between $400 and $8001.
As far as I am concerned this vet and others like him are criminals. The manner in which he treats cats as money-making fodder takes the veterinary profession into the realms of criminality.
This person is totally unsuited to the profession of veterinary surgeon. Is anyone doing checks on the character and personality of people who want to qualify as a vet? If not they should because at the end of the day it is about ethics and personal standards.
I know I have gone on and on about this but there is no way the American culture of declawing cats is going to stop unless the vets are forced to stop. It is just too lucrative and for the vast majority of vets making a good profit comes before cat welfare.
Mutilating cats for the convenience of the owner is the backbone of the veterinary business in America. It’s the bread and butter that pays the school fees and keeps the air conditioning running during those globally warmed, blistering summers.
American veterinarians (bar a few) are in mass denial of the fact that they have torn up their sacred oath and totally undermined the purpose for their existence, which is to improve the health of animals in their care.
Some vets are stepping out of line. They see the light:
“I finally just asked myself, ‘Why am I hurting cats?'” he remembers. “There’s no moral way to justify it. It’s a violation of the oath we took.” (Aubrey Lavizzo, who I believe is a Colorado vet)
Yes, I have been saying that for about 5 years as have many other anti-declaw campaigners. Why did it take Aubrey so long to understand that what he was doing was morally unjustifiable? At least he stopped doing it. He is now one of the leading campaigners to ban it in Colorado.
Apparently, behind the scenes there is a “a mounting pile of distressing posts on veterinarian discussion boards”1 about declawing complications, pain management and how the operations should be done.
Alan Prendergast writing in the Dallas Observer states:
declawing has become a deeply divisive issue among practitioners
This shocks me because there is no way declawing can be divisive because it is obviously wrong. All vets should be on the same side. The side of curing and healing animals including cats. Declawing achieves the opposite.
No one knows how much a cat suffers from acute pain after the operation. Vets don’t know. They guess and some don’t administer proper pain medication. It’s legalised cat torture at some veterinary surgeries.
Amongst all the bloody mess of the declawing industry there may be a ray of light. Apparently, the state of Colorado have their sights on a statewide ban next year with the process being kick started by Dr Jennifer Conrad’s feature film about declawing that is due to be screened nationally in the near future.
Note: Why did I write about declawing today? Because it is a news item. The news bit is the releasing of The Paw Project film. I don’t get fun out of writing about declawing believe me.
Ref: (1) dallasobserver.com