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.
I am a current 3rd year student studying veterinary medicine. I don’t think that a) I’ll ever be taught to perform a declaw, as they are heavily discouraged in our curriculum and an emphasis on behavioral modification to curb problematic behaviors is stressed instead, and b) I don’t think I could ethically justify declawing a cat myself. That being said, I don’t think that the procedure should be universally banned. I think that most vets should discourage owners from pursuing this as an option, and should refuse to declaw cats with the exception of a few extreme circumstances. I’ve actually seen my mentor be put in a really difficult ethical situation with regards to the decision to declaw a cat or not.
I would be happy to answer any questions people may have about the current attitudes of declawing at my university, my opinions about “special circumstances,” or why I oppose a universal ban on the procedure.
It’s too serious a subject for mockery Caroline!
Could we reconvene tmrw? It is so late for me; I have to lie down and get off of this laptop. Shrimpster has been leaning on me heavily since Luck passed. I stopped breathing yesterday and had to be resuscitated, so I am fairly sure that I need some sleep. <3
I am simply asking, don’t generalize. And then I will not mockingly “criticize.” 😉
Well, I would certainly have his back, even after organizing it for the troops!
No luck so far, I think the declaw vets know they are in the wrong, that being interviewed will show them up as the cat abusers they are. It’s sickening! No amount of good works by any of these vets can make up for the evil they commit on cats.