Except for Nova Scotia it is legal to declaw cats in Canada. The default status in Canada is that the country follows America with respect to declawing cats. There is gradual pressure in Canada among enlightened veterinarians to stop declawing. I sense that there is a greater desire in Canada to stop declawing than in America.
This is probably why a jurisdiction greater than a city, namely Nova Scotia, has decided to ban the operation. It is the first case of a total ban in a jurisdiction greater than a city in North America. I wrote about it on December 14th last year. It is likely that other territories and provinces in Canada will follow in due course.
I should say, by the way, that declawing cats is not totally banned in Nova Scotia but almost totally banned. Non-therapeutic declawing is prohibited. This accounts for 99.9% of declawing in any case because nearly all declawing is done at the behest of the cat’s owner for their convenience. They want to stop their cat damaging furniture and so on. It is very rare for a cat to need to be declawed for a feline medical reason.
It is probably fair to say that banning declawing in an area surrounded by a much larger area where it is legal does not prevent the declawing of cats in that territory entirely. This is because cat owners could travel outside of their own territory into an area where declawing is legal. However, it is very symbolic and it does present a barrier to people who want to put their cat through the operation. It is also educational. It reminds cat owners what declawing is about. It is a great step forward. It is not a question of if declawing will be banned entirely across North America but a question of when.
I would like to predict that it will entirely stop either voluntarily or because of a ban within about 10 years. It’s a long process because it is deeply ingrained in the culture of North American citizens.
