North American Veterinarians Who Never Declaw

Hi Susan, I originally tried the de-claw email since that was the one on her list and that's the one that bombed. I went back and found the one you mentioned and that seemed to have worked, but it's still not on her site, so I don't know how often she updates her list. Hope it's soon. Thanks for the assist!

Gail - Which email did you send it to? She has two different emails listed on the page and I believe the vet@cathealth.com address is the one to send to, not the vet@de-clawing.com.

I just tried to email Dr. Schelling's website to add Dr. Wember's address to the list and the email bounced back. Has anyone else had a problem?

My wonderful vet DOES NOT DECLAW for any reason! He offers the Soft Paws alternative. This is a 2-vet office and neither vet will declaw. Please add him to your list and I will also add him to the other pro-claw list site mentioned.

Dr. Ean Wember (Great vet - like Dr. Doolittle!)
Dr. Suzanne Ahmad
Hancock Animal Hospital
55 Hancock Street
Quincy, MA 02171
Tel: 617-773-0008
Email: contact@hancockanimal.com
Web:

Yes well done Ruth !
It's sickening that the vet said come and see the kittens playing in their cages after declawing, he has no shame that he does a supposedly last resort procedure on kittens.
He obviously doesn't give a thought as to how kittens play hunt by grabbing toys with their front claws and kicking with their back feet.
He takes their kittenhood from them and cripples them for life.
'Without MUCH pain' is still too much pain, they shoud have NO pain because declawing should not be done.
I'm so glad Monty escaped that premeditated abuse, bless him X

These damn vets know they are guilty thats why they hang up and get so tetchy.

How dare they say whats your problem so long as we aren't forcing you. The thing is you don't need to force people if you don't tell them the truth; they go along with you because you've made them feel they are doing the right thing.

Thank God you found out the truth Ruth, as you say.

If I found out that my Vet had not given me the facts and my cat had suffered as a result I wouldn't let them rest.

Well done Ruth. If they claimed that you were abusive on the phone they are mad and bad. You can never be abusive!

Really, your experience is shocking to me. It shows a terrible hostility towards the truth. A cynical approach. And a blindness to what they are doing. I am beginning to hate vets who declaw and nearly all of them do in the US.

They say they don't force people to declaw but they encourage it by underplaying it and selling it as something that is acceptable. This is actually worse.

I also have been hung up on when trying to find a pro-claw vet for Monty! I was surprised, because that's hardly the way to get new customers. The front office person I spoke to said, "Why does it matter if a vet declaws or not so long as no one is forcing you to have it done on your cat?" I answered, "Because delcawing should be illegal." And she hung up on me. I expected the vet to be upset that a staff member was hanging up on people, but he took her side and they both claimed that I was verbally abusive and therefore she did right by hanging up on me. I didn't raise my voice. I just stated my answer to her question. The vet responded by inviting me to come in and see kittens just declawed "playing in their cages." He said since they use the laser the cats recover quickly without much pain. How can he be so blind to suffering? Even if it were true that the cats do not experience pain, he still can't justify declawing to me. The cat experiences a dramatic decrease in functional mobility for a cat. Vets use a human standard when measuring that loss of function, so to them the cat seems fine. Declawed cats are essentially crippled when compared to cats with claws. But of course the real crime is how my being upset about those crippled cats must have come through in my tone of voice, and his staff shouldn't have to listen to that.

Sometimes in the early mornings when Monty comes and sits on the bed by me, I hold his little paw gently in my fingers and thank God that I found out the truth in time and didn't declaw him. A few days ago he would have fallen from the porch rail were he a declawed cat. He walks up there to keep his paws out of the snow, but he started to slide off the rail by the stairs and his claws saved him. How many cats climb up on something, like that tall cat furniture you can buy, and end up falling off because they don't have claws anymore?

Hi, thanks Susan. I like your idea about calling vets. We should have a campaign! That'll scare 'em..:-)

I called a declawing vet in the USA once from here in London and asked why they declawed etc. I wanted a discussion to try and make them face up to what they were doing.

I spoke to the practice manager. She hung up!

There seems to be a fair amount of sensitivity amongst vets about declawing which is good. Videos that vets make and put on YouTube don't accept comments. Another sign that the vets know they are in the wrong or at least that they realise that there is a body of people who object to it.

The vets seem to be aware of the problem.

I agree this list is incomplete. If a vet doesn't take the time to search it out, they could very well not know that it exists. I was the one who submitted my vets name to it, she had no idea about the list and even if she did, she wouldn't have taken the time to submit her name.
The only way to know if there are more non-declawing vets is to start calling around to find out. I force myself to call my area vets every couple months to ask if they have a vet on staff who doesn't declaw, and although they always say "NO" (in a manner that I can tell they are smirking and rolling their eyes), at least they are getting calls from people NOT wanting declawing (I'm holding out hope that one day the answer will be "YES"!). Vets claim they created declawing because of public pressure - they are getting calls all day long for - so it's vital that we are making the calls for NOT wanting it too.
A few years ago I did find another Ohio vet that doesn't declaw by calling around, but she worked inside of a clinic where the other vets did declaw (she was from the UK of course!). She has since moved so her name is not on the list, but I am confident that there are more non-declawing vets out there than this list provides. I've seen vets comment on various blogs, etc that they don't declaw and when I checked, their names were not on this list. We should start emailing the link of the list to our local vets in addition to calling them so they know a list of truly humane & compassionate vets exists - it may inspire them to add their name one day!

You must have put a lot of work into making this page Michael, but what a worthwhile task, it will be invaluable to anyone wanting to know where they can safely take their cat and it's really good to know that there are some decent, ethical vets out there, I tend to tar all vets bar our own "troop" vets with the same brush which is wrong I know. I wish the ones with consciences would get together and get on to the AVMA and knock them off the fence.

This page will be invaluable to those of us educating about the cruelty of declawing.
People do sometimes ask where they can find a vet who doesn't declaw and linking to this page might bring more supporters for the PoC anti declaw movement too.
THANK YOU Michael for all your work on this !
I hope other people will add more to it with time.
I sympathise with you Ruth, not having an anti declaw vet where you live. Most cats are not good travellers and although it's horrible having to put money into the hands of pro declaw vets maybe you can cancel that out when you have to take Monty in.
I'd have a few leaflets in my hand and casually leave them on a waiting room chair or start a converstation about how cruel it is, with other people waiting with cats. Even a few bookmarks with a link to PoC left on a chair might make people think and for every person you educate, there may be many more educated by that person.
I honestly don't know how kind and compassionate people like you do take it any more Ruth, it even gets to us here many thousands of miles from where it is happening !

Hi Ruth..I am surprised, indeed shocked that in some states there are no vets who don't declaw. But as the anonymous visitor kindly commented, this list is incomplete. That sounds correct but is it? Can someone confirm that?

But we don't have any other list - another surprising fact.

There may be a vet in Wisconsin who doesn't declaw! Hallelujah.

I just don't know how to get that information.

Uhmm..Thanks for the comment that the list is incomplete.. I am pleased! Thank God for that. Because it is a very short list compared to the overall number of vets in the USA. There are 90,201 vets in the USA (2010) according to the AVMA.

How do we find out the names and details of the vets who never declaw who are not on this list? Help needed! Maybe they will come to this page in time and add a comment.

If anyone knows of a vet that is not listed please make a comment providing details and if you have time please notify Dr Schelling too (she has left her email address on her website (link is above in article).

Any additional names will be added to the map if the details are complete and Google can map it.

In fact anyone can add a vet themselves if they wish as the original map is for use by the public and can be amended by the public. See it here.

And I think Anna's idea is neat. These vets should be promoted.

What a great idea to create this list of dedicated and not blood-money thirsty veterinarians! Thank you, Michael.

I'll start my research on LI, NY. The Maine Coon (or mix)on the picture looks so much similar to my Lyova: I can only hope he got a loving owner at least now, after the torture he had to go through..

And also since "money talks" may be there is a way to promote those never-declaw vets somehow, may be by creating a donations fund they could use to cover their advertisement expenses?

I would definitely participate. So, what do you all think about this? Any other ideas?

This is a great idea, a great list, and a great service by Dr. Schelling, but the list is very, very incomplete. There are many more vets who don't declaw. I hope readers of this blog will submit them to www.declaw.com.

This is an excellent tool Michael, thank you for creating it. There are so many Americans desperate to find vets that do not declaw cats.

I find it very disappointing that there isn't a single pro-claw vet in Wisconsin. What am I supposed to do? Drive south of Chicago for Monty's next rabies vaccine? He tolerates riding in the car, but he isn't crazy about it.

Wisconsin is supposed to be so progressive-- a state full of caring, progressive, liberals. Where are they on this issue? Wisconsin is the most anti-business state in the union, penalizing businesses through not only high taxation but over regulation. But on this issue, where there should be government regulation, considering declawing is already against the law, being undeniably animal cruelty, we have silence. It won't improve with the Republicans in charge. With the fight it will take to fix our fiscal house (the state is basically bankrupt) there is no way banning declawing will ever come up. And I don't think anyone in either party has the guts to take it on.

My dad used to say you'd have to have your head examined to live in Wisconsin. He meant because of the cold weather. I like the cold weather, so I stay, but those in charge have got to go. We have one more thing to be ashamed of in a state that fails in everything from balancing budgets (really doing it, not just raiding the transportation fund) to failing to lock up criminals. You are better off being a felon in Wisconsin than a cat. We let our prisoners out early but our innocent cats we torture with declawing. Heaven help us, because I feel like I can't take it anymore.