Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat, wants declawing to be banned in New York State except when the operation is carried out strictly for medical reasons concerning the cat’s health and welfare. She has introduced a bill (proposed legislation) to try and meet her objective.
Her bill is yet to be presented to the state Senate but it is backed by the Humane Society of New York and the The Paw Project.
I am sure it will also be backed by many Americans living in the state of New York and outside who understand that the declawing operation is cruel when done for the convenience of the owner. It is not infrequently carried poorly resulting in complications leading to long term pain and secondary health issues.
Linda Rosenthal is a first class animal advocate and a prolific writer of new legislation protecting animals. She recently successful introduced legislation to outlaw tattooing and the piercing of pets in New York State.
I understand that Gov. Cuomo recently signed that legislation into effect after it was approved in June 2014.
I wish her the very best in creating this new law. It’ll be a hard one to introduce because the vets will fight it with all the usual weak arguments such as the operation saves lives by stopping abandonments. This argument has been debunked frequently.
You may remember that 8 cities in California have banned declawing. As yet, there is no statewide ban in the USA.
Please try and support this lady.
**dancing a jig**
Sure do hope the ban is successful. It’ll save a lot of cats’ paws and be a good example for the other states.
I really hope that Linda Rosenthal is successful in getting a ban on declawing brought about. This could open the gateway to other statewide bans in the future.
This is a huge spotlight for anti-declawing views to be heard, so at the very least it should help raise awareness.
I totally agree Michele. Just the process of debating a bill on banning declawing in New York State is good. If by a miracle (I think it will take a miracle but she is good at introducing this sort of legislation) the bill becomes law it could quite likely lead to the beginnings of a nationwide ban state by state.
This one needs to be watched and supported. Dr Jennifer Conrad of The Paw Project notified me of it and asked to spread the word.
I sure hope that Ms Rosenthal can gather all the support she needs to get this bill even up for discussion in the NY State Senate.I wonder if there is a way we can reach out to her and offer our support.
I can just hear the NY State Veterinary Association going bonkers in protestation. Hopefully the presentations of the Paw Project and the Humane Society of New York will be sufficiently powerful- and the residents of New York State who are passionately against declawing will take immediate action by reaching out to their ELECTED representatives.
I hope you can spread the word Jo. It is an uphill struggle to get this into law.
Another step in the right direction, I hope this caring woman manages to get the legislation passed and it will be another nail in the coffin of declawing. It stinks that it is such an uphill fight, I will never understand why anyone would defend their right to mutilate and hurt cats.
Linda Rosenthal is a woman to admire very much! I hope she succeeds.
The anti declaw movement is growing daily, our International group has had around 300 new members in the last week.
The AVMA apparently can’t ban declawing and the vets who get rich by declawing won’t give up. So the only way we can fight it is by educating as many people as possible as to how cruel it is and to hopefully get more people like Linda Rosenthal to push for legislation in their cities.
Declawing vets know full well it doesn’t keep cats in their homes, all it does is fill those vets bank accounts with blood money.
The AVMA is toothless. What good is it? As far as I know the British equivalent, BVA can make rules about veterinary care. Perhaps I am wrong but a veterinary association should be in a position to uphold the highest standards and the oath otherwise they are rather pointless.