I am thrilled. People who hate cat declawing have something to go into the weekend to smile about; the growth of The Paw Project. I have an update from Dr. Doub who founded, and is the director of, The Paw Project-Utah. She provided a full current list of the branches as at the date of this post (thank you):
- Jennifer Conrad, DVM – Founder and Director
- Jim Jensvold – Paw Project Assistant Director
UNITED STATES
- California: Los Angeles: Lisa Hsuan, DVM – Director — Orange County: Kelly Wright, DVM – Director
- Colorado: Aubrey Lavizzo, DVM – Director
- Florida: Dr. Willem-Jan van Deijck, DVM – Director
- Georgia: Stephanie Globerman, DVM – Director: Ingrid Johnson, CCBC – Consultant, Feline Behavior and Assistant Director
- Illinois: Cynthia Olsen, DVM – Director
- Indiana: Nicole Martell-Moran, DVM, MPH – Director
- Iowa: Jennifer Doll, DVM – Director
- Michigan: Katie Dyer, DVM – Director
- Minnesota: Janet Gordon Palm, DVM – Director
- New York: New York: Allan B. Simon, DVM – Co-Director: New York: Susan Whittred, DVM – Co-Director: Queens: New York: Michal Hess, DVM – Director
- Ohio: Danya Linehan, DVM – Director
- Oklahoma: Suzanne Hurst, DVM – Director
- Oregon: Laura Cochrane, DVM – Director
- Texas: Katrina Breitreiter, DVM – Director
- Utah: Kirsten Doub, DVM – Director
- Washington: Craig Tebeau, DVM – Director
CANADA
- Atlantic Canada: Hugh Chisholm, DVM – Co-Director: Frances Minty, DVM – Co-Director
- British Columbia: Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP – Director
- Ontario: Kelly St. Denis, MSc, DVM, DABVP – Director
- Quebec: Enid Stiles, DVM, MSc – Director
Everyone who finds declawing unethical and worse, downright abhorrent, should try to spread the word. As Ruth (aka Kattaddorra) consistently said: it’s about education. A lot of cat owners don’t fully understand what declawing means and all the very real potential complications that can flow from the operation, which is not infrequently botched.
Dr Doub recommends that The Paw Project supporters:
- hand out The Paw Project fact sheet flyers (downloadable in PDF form here) at local shelters and;
- show people The Paw Project documentary film. It is now available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play and Dish. People receive a free copy if they donate on The Paw Project website.
Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.
This is fantastic news and well deserved success for the Paw Project. It’s been hard going, but the movement against declawing is growing stronger all the time.
I agree with both of you. I look forward to the day the good guys win and get declawing outlawed everywhere.
I am just thrilled with the news; a movement The Paw Project can’t be ignored they are gaining so much momentum! Vets that still de-claw should be so ashamed when the Paw Project has produced hard evidence of why it is so wrong
We have fought for a long time to stop declawing. There are many people like us. It gives me hope and energy to go on arguing against declawing.
Thanks for this article Michael.
The Paw Project is amazing. Their work is outstanding and it is a joy to see more veterinarians getting involved.
They give us hope. And as veterinarians they hold more power for change than anyone else. They can work from the inside and change the mentality of US vets. They may be able to create a snowball effect.