I want to travel to the United States of America and/or Canada to interview veterinarians who declaw cats. I also want to interview the cat owners who instruct their veterinarians to declaw their cat(s).
I want to do this face-to-face and I want to record the interview on video. I’m available at any time to do this.
I believe that it is time for declawing veterinarians to go on record and explain why they do it. I want to hear their reasons in their own words. Individual veterinarians may have different reasons. I know that we always say that the reason is for money. However, I would like to explore that reason further. I would also like to hear from the mouth of a veterinarian how he or she squares up declawing of cats with their oath. I want to hear their full argument as to how they justify declawing cats set against their sworn oath.
There are many other questions I can ask and no doubt many questions will come out of the conversation. A videotaped interview with a veterinarian who declaws cats has never been tried before.
I seriously doubt whether any veterinarian will allow himself to be interviewed by me on how they justify declawing cats. I know one reason will be that they do so to save the lives of a cat that would otherwise be abandoned. Their argument does not hold water and we can explore that in conversation. Another reason is that if they don’t do it another veterinarian will and therefore they are forced to declaw cats. That argument does not hold water either and that can be explored further as well.
I would like, if possible, for any reader of this article to come forward and help me set up meetings. I live in London, England. It would be easier for me if somebody could help me set up interviews. I would like to interview a least three veterinarians and three cat owners to make the trip worthwhile because it will be quite an expensive trip. This group of people should, ideally, be not too far apart.
I note that the two prominent anti-declawed veterinarians in America are Jennifer Conrad and Dr. Hovre. I hope they can help as well. What I mean is, I hope they can arrange a meeting between me and a declawing veterinarian.
It is time for a change in tactics and it is time that veterinarians justified their behaviour under public scrutiny.
Hi Sarah, thanks for commenting and providing a vet’s insight into declawing. If you are reading this I’d like to ask you some questions which I’ll formulate and put into another comment.
I am pleased you have the sort of attitude to declawing that I’d expect a vet to have: don’t do it unless it is for the cat’s health and welfare. It is nice to read that.
However, many vets in the USA don’t have your attitude. They declaw for profit and cause pain and distress to millions of cats as a consequence. My experience tells me that the American vet (taken as a whole) won’t give it up and therefore it has to be banned.
Vets in general can’t be trusted to do the right thing. That is not to say that there aren’t many vets who dislike declawing for non-therapeutic reasons. There is a certain amount of peer pressure I feel too. Some vets can’t stop because they feel they will be ostracised if they do.