Various Ways to Protest Against the Declawing of Cats

I think eventually your good example will rub off bit by bit on her Ruth. She’s brainwashed the wrong way so it needs reversing but that takes time and patience. Most people aren’t bad just ignorant so just keeping on repeating the good you do will hopefully educate her eventually.
Yes cats need bowls of fresh water as you say, they can’t get enough from a tap, but it could be worse as some people think cats drinking from the toilet bowl is enough for them.
It’s frightening really isn’t it that someone can take a kitten home not even knowing the first thing about how to look after him properly. At least with a human baby new mothers get support from nurses etc.
I always think anyone wanting a pet of any kind should first be made to pass a competence test to prove they will look after them as they should.
Sadly that wsill never happen while animals are classes as possessions.

Not to make this sound like “the mutual admiration society” but I feel the same way about you, Ruth– a person I’m glad to call a friend though we live in different parts of the world.
I think what my husband’s friend meant about drinking from the sink, is that the cats like to drink from the bathroom faucet when it’s on at just a trickle. Monty sometimes wants to do this in the morning too– right when I’m trying to brush my teeth. But I don’t mind, because the more he drinks the better! But I would never say that because he got a couple of swallows of water that way he shouldn’t also have a clean, full water bowl at all times. (He has three, in fact.) I agree, that as I show concern and care for her cats in all aspects of their lives, not just their poor paws, that could be a good start to changing how she sees her cats. They aren’t just another possession! I’m not sure she gets that.

I do see your problem Ruth and it looks like the only thing to stop her having cats declawed will be when it’s banned.
It sounds like you are doing what you can, trying to educate her. Little things like changing the cats water might start her thinking a bit. I’d say in a joking sort of way while doing it ‘How would you like to drink out of the sink ?’
By falling out with her you’d not only upset both husbands but you wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her cats.
I can’t understand anyone putting possessions before pets but I was brought up to love and respect all living beings and material things don’t matter to me at all. Inanimate possessions don’t bring the pleasure having healthy happy cats around does.
We are poor but have a comfortable and clean home and like you my main concern is that we who are living in it are happy, people and cats.
I would hate to go to her home but I’d love to come to yours and I think having a hammock chair hanging from the ceiling must be wonderful.
You put your husbands and Monty’s happiness first and you are my kind of friend !!

I wish you could be with me, Ruth, when I talk to her! I do try, here and there. Her response has been that if the cat had arthritis she would know. I often don’t know a patient has arthritis in a joint until they tell me– even in a fellow human, it’s not always obvious in how they stand and walk, and I’m trained to spot painful gait patterns.
She really loves her stuff, and I have trouble relating to people like that. Maybe I can’t get through because I don’t understand her world. But I can understand the world her poor cats live in well enough!
When I’m there I constantly am refreshing the cats’ water dish, and she says, “Oh, don’t bother, they drink from the sink in the morning.” But sometimes after I refill the dish at least one cat will come and drink deeply.
So we’re talking about a person not fit to keep cats, but who grew up to value certain things very much: the right neighborhood, a big house, new furnishings. These to her are the marks of adulthood. She tolerates me. I say this because my home is still furnished like a college dorm and we live in a neighborhood she’d probably be afraid to walk in after dark. She sees me as a person who is not really an adult, because I haven’t purchased the things adults purchase and I don’t value what adults value. My husband bought this hammock chair at a local festival and hung it from the ceiling in our living room. She saw it and looked at me like I’d lost my mind to allow him to do that! (Monty loves that chair, by the way– he jumps into it and swings.)
Though I must continue to speak the truth to her, she is unlikely to hear me. She listens to me the way one listens to small children talk. I have actually less credibility than a small child. To her I haven’t “grown up.”
My husband enjoys socializing with her husband, and I will not deprive him of time with his boyhood friend, but sometimes I can’t go with him. Seeing her poor cats breaks my heart and I know starting a big fight about it will be counterproductive.

It must be a sort of brainwashing because who in their right mind would think it better for a cat born with claws because he obviously needs them, to have them taken from him surgically.
You knew it would be wrong Ruth, even though they tried to persuade you to have Monty declawed, you stood firm !
I’m afraid you must tell your friend the horrible truth, her cats could be suffering in silence as many declawed cats do, the obese one especially. Neglected problems from declawing have caused cats to lose their entire paws !
I know it’s easy saying this from another country where every single person reacts with shock and horror at the very idea of declawing a cat, but if I was there I’d just have to speak to her for the sake of her poor crippled cats.
As you say though she’s likely to ‘shoot the messenger’ so I don’t envy you the task !

That is what is frightening about declawing, it is so embedded into people’s minds that it’s not only a desirable thing but also a necessary thing to do. I’ve seen articles stating it makes cats more comfortable (to have their fingers amputated!)and comments about being a good “fur-baby mom” (by having the poor damn fur baby’s toes amputated!) You’re right, there’s not a lot you can do for the poor cat that your friend has already had mutilated (other than point out that he needs watching for arthritis) but if the situation does arise where she contemplates having another cat declawed what choice have you but to tell her a few home truths, even if they are couched in a civil way.

We in America can start just by talking to our friends about declawing. I personally know someone who thinks it’s necessary to declaw cats in order to own cats. Her parents declawed, so she has done it to her cats. I have said a few things against declawing and I lead by example by refusing to declaw my cat despite her urging that I “have to” declaw him. I don’t push too hard right now, because there is nothing that can be done to help her current cats. One is obese and I can easily spot the abnormalities in his gait and stance which will lead to arthritis. If she really realized what she’d done it would traumatize her and she’d shut down, not hearing me. But when the day comes that she gets another cat I’m going to make damn sure she doesn’t declaw it. At that point she can hear the truth and know what she’s sparing her new cat. But still, I plan to speak the truth in love, with gentleness. It will be hard for her to learn the truth of what she’s done, but she’ll have to learn it.
Thank God I didn’t listen to her or my husband who kept insisting I do that to Monty! My husband’s big fear that Monty’s claws would damage our waterbed mattress came to nothing. I don’t think his claws really can go through it, and certainly not with a blanket on there. Today Jeff was playing with Monty on the waterbed, the cat pouncing on a toy up on the bed– yet no harm was done.
Stories like that, told by someone who actually considered declawing, can go a long way toward reducing that mentality of “having to” declaw. I hope to at least convince my friend to try out the cat without declawing to see if the cat is even destructive first. I can always appeal to the fact that she might not really need to pay for what is an expensive procedure!

Good ideas man.
We have 2 marvellous young people now I know of,Maggie and Zach,its a pity Maggie is in Australia though as I bet shed be very active in America like Zach.
Do we have any more?
Ed
All the best everybody

Yes, Ruth it is pester power. We will do it the way cats do it. With patience and pester power!

I’ve just discovered I do have Zach’s email address so I’ve sent him a message with a link to this page.
Because he’s already done it at his school he may have some good advice even if he can’t help because of studying.
We do need young people over there to do this so I hope our American friends know of some young relatives or friends who would like to get involved.

I’m happy for my posters to be used if anyone wants them and I have the original A4 size of them all but I think you can make them even bigger to print off can’t you Michael, as you have on the Childrens Corner ?
I don’t think much can be achieved now until after Christmas and New Year as people are busy elsewhere and set on putting serious stuff aside. But early January we can start all our new ideas with a vengeance, culminating in the Demonstration in July.
Let’s make 2011 the year we anti declaws won’t be as quiet any longer !!!!

Then, come on the troops, pester power can’t be ignored !

Hi CJ, I agree. I had not really thought of Ruth’s posters as ones that could be printed as a hard copy poster but there is no doubt that they could.

It might be nice to select one or two and find out where we can get them printed people wanted to take up that option. Ruth should be asked if she approves too.

One other point. The originals are larger format versions.

Either Ruth or me will have the larger format versions.

We have all the posters here on PoC by which I mean the ones Ruth has designed to go along with her articles.
Most of those posters are self explanatory by the pictures on them and could be printed off for use around schools.
They are appealing to kids.I showed mine the not too gory ones and asked what they thought and they loved them.
I think they make a serious topic fun to get the message over but not gruesome to upset the kids.
Does anyone agree?

I’ve just read all the ideas and they are brilliant but I feel that we must hit a vast area with shock tactics! We must shame the vets by letting the world know about what they are doing and the only way to do that is to involve a very high profile celebrity or to contact a news channel (here or in America) that would broadcast the facts.

I’ve tried to contact celebrities both here and in America and understandably I have to get through the brick wall of the websites/emails/PA’s etc its virtually impossible and the couple where I’ve managed to contact the PA I’ve been informed that the celebrity already has too many commitments. Therefore the comment about using all our contacts is a good one to try and find a documentary channel or celebrity that would help.

Elle good for you deciding to contact the vet that declaws all 4 paws please please post his/her phone number on here as I for one would love to speak to him/her and I’m sure others of us would too.

I also feel that concentrated focus is the key. For example if one of us called a vet to ask about declawing then no impact but if 10 of us called one particular vet in 1 day it would give them a jolt and food for thought.

I too have called a vets and after a brief conversation where they admitted they contravened AVMA guidelines by de-clawing kittens they then put the phone down.

Fund raising is also important that way those of us who aren’t terribly well off financially (me included)can achieve more to help.

Can I just say though that Ruth, Barbara, Micheal and all the regular troops on PoC have all worked miracles. You’ve never stopped no matter how bad it’s got, you’ve seen images that will never leave you, you saved so many cats toes already, 4314 signatures on the petition! I only got to know Ruth in March and I’ve been overwhelmed by the passion shown fighting declawing. We despise it with all our hearts, we all think alike so with that sort of drive and determination at least we know one thing! It will be banned!

Yes I’ve noticed quite a few young people know more about the anatomy of a cat and therefore what declawing actually means.
I just had a thought about Zach Atterbury, he used to post quite a lot here and on his blog and he made posters and gave talks at his school.He intends to be a vet !
We need someone like him to lead young people.
If we could contact him maybe he would start a youth anti declawing page ? He could give advice as to how he went about it.I remember he made some brilliant anti declaw posters, he may still have them.
One problem with young people though is that a lot are studying for exams and can only take so much more stress on board.We need to be careful not to overload them as we know ourselves how this gets to us.
I hope Zach reads this or someone knows how to contact him.

On the subject of younger people being educated and helping educate others, I wonder if there are any US troops who have high school or college age kids, or who perhaps are teachers or otherwise involved in campus life to the extent that they may be able to sponsor the creation of a school club to fight declawing? I am thinking along the lines of Students Against Drunk Driving and the like. Then perhaps chapters of it could begin to spread across the country! 🙂

I agree wholeheartedly with you, Michael, as with others that here and in Canada, that people need to organize to drive the point home. It is difficult, however, for those of us who are older and barely holding on to our jobs in this economy. That’s where the youth come in.

As we educate our youth, they in turn, can get the word out and educate others, who in turn, will keep the momentum and pressure our lawmakers to do something constructive for a change.

This past weekend, at the shelter, while showing prospective adopters our cats, I spent the entire shift educating people about declawing. We don’t allow declaw and adopters must sign that stipulation, or they cannot adopt from us. Further, we’ll confiscate any animal that have been declawed after the fact and will prosecute since they signed a contract. (Unfortunately, since animals are still considered chattel, contract violation is the only remedy.)

What surprised me, however, was that the adults were shocked at what declaw actually is, yet their children were incredulous at their parents’ ignorance. One kid actually said: “Cats are digigrade animals! That’s like cutting off their feet!” Whoa. Someone’s been talking to them. Bravo.

If the media got involved, those great videos PoC has of actual surgeries and the aftermath would be the “in-you-face” that cannot be ignored. I imagine permissions need to be given to use them, but that seems to be another way to go to drive the point home.

There are already so many missed opportunities for existing animal welfare groups & shelters to be providing ground education, I think our group needs to be the pressure to get them to include declaw education.

Many already have school programs and campaigns directed toward the humane treatment of companion animals, have spots on the news to showcase their adoptable animals, and regularly attend Pet Expos where they set up education tables, yet they do include or mention declawing. Organizations like HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends, Maddies Fund, etc get millions of dollars of donations toward their campaigns, and none have ever had one about declawing. We need to start calling them (local shelters & advocacy groups included) out on this and letting them know we expect this from them as one of their responsibilities toward teaching humane animal care.

I think more people would get involved with contacting groups & shelters about their education campaigns if we could draft a template letter for them to email or mail.

I hate to say that we should start yet another Facebook group, but we may need to start a Community Page or Fan page as an extension of the CAD group page where we can use the Discussion pages to post the tools, resources, & template letters that folks need to do their own ground advocacy. There are so MANY resources and tools out there – articles, brochures, bumper stickers – we just need a place to bring them all together so folks can arm themselves with the resources they need. We could have categories like:

Resources For School Education
Resources When Landlords Require Declawing Resources To Send To Veterinarians
Resources For Education Tables & Bulletin Boards
Resources For Legislation

I get emails everyday from people looking for these kind of tools – they want to do something about declawing but are overwhelmed and need some direction. This kind of resource page could really help get them moving.

I agree not enough is being done to end declawing but I also agree that there’s not much more we can do from the UK and Australia than we are doing.
Americans need to step up their campaign which means more people are needed.
There are lots against declawing but seemingly not so many actually doing much to try to stop it.
I know some have lost heart or become ill through the hopelessness of it all but it will never stop if new people don’t come along to take their place.
Education is of paramount importance,get youngsters on side and they work on their parents.Therefore going round schools is a great idea.There must be someone who can organise a team of American volunteers to do just that.
I realise it must be difficult as it’s such a large country but little by little things build up and make a difference.
Like Ruth I have passion and committment to this but I also have kids,cats and dogs and a lot of stuff going on here I have to cope with too.

You are right Michael ! It’s going to take more than groups and blogs to reach everyone who still doesn’t know the truth about the cruelty of declawing.
But this HAS to be in America and Canada and organised by the people there. Maybe your Demonstration will motivate more supporters to help the stalwarts over there if you get lots of publicity.
It needs young fit people to get out on the streets, as I already said. It does take passion and staying power to do it, I know as I’ve done it, but it’s well worth it for the sake of the cause and the feeling having been part of stopping some abuse or injustice is wonderful.
I wish I could inject some of my passion into more helpers ! I’m too old, too weary and too poor to do more than I already am to help, on-line every day 7 days a week. I can’t go round USA schools, I wish I could ! It’s frustrating seeing what could be done but unable to do it myself !
Martha Kane is a shining example of how education around schools can help. She has the passion and committment I admire very much and I’m sure if she lived in the USA she’d be round all the schools there educating about declawing.
Groups meeting or fund raising for this cause in the UK are pointless. It has to be done where it’s happening.
Speaking for myself and for some of the troops I know personally, we are swamped with animal welfare stuff in our own country. More so since the new government are cutting funds outrageously for animals. They don’t care about ordinary people let alone animals. We are already financially struggling here in the North and I honestly can’t see anyone apart from our wonderful troops being sympathetic enough about cats in another country to give money for them.
Every way you turn there is abuse of animals in some form and whatever we do is never enough is how I’m feeling at present.

What a lot of really good ideas, and what a huge difference to two short years ago when Ruth found out declawing was still happening, made contact with Susan and started the petition, before any of us knew each other and began to work together. It seems that the main thing needed is persistance and those of us in the UK who can’t travel to the USA can’t do much more than rely on the power of emailing, groups, petitions, blogging, helping Dr Jean with her project and the very enjoyable shaming of individual vets who declaw. But this is good, in every campaign there has to be both upfront high profile demonstrating and background spadework so I think we have it pretty well covered both ways with our coalition, but of course we need more, and more, people to hammer the message home, so my suggestion is a campaign to recruit more troops to help in both of our strategies.

One important aspect of our campaign to stop declawing is that we need to get organised.

There are a good number of us and some have formed extremely good groups of passionate people. Facebook is a great meeting place and so is PoC!

I do feel though that we have to bring together everyone and develop a coordinated strategy to create focus and drive.

Declawing is a hard nut to crack. It is ingrained in the American psyche. It needs a focused force to crack it and that can only be done if we get organised.

Getting organised means more than sitting at home writing articles and joining Facebook groups no matter how good they are – and they are damn good. It means meeting each other and communicating more dynamically in my opinion.

One thing we should look at too is proper funding, decent levels of funding, so we can travel and meet and create large scale campaigns. We are fighting a very well funded profession. I don’t think we can do that on a shoestring budget. We need to up our game if we are to beat the veterinary machine.

Just my thoughts.

I particularly like the schools talk idea. Surely this can happen. It is so important in the longterm as it will gradually change the attitude of people. When the children grow up they won’t declaw or at least some won’t and kids are very effective at changing the attitudes of their parents. Children speak truthfully.

I love the idea of bumper stickers, posters, t-shirts etc and they are very effective, except on a small scale. This situation is so epidemic it calls for something huge like a massive, national billboard campaign – the kind Mercy For Animals does: http://www.mfablog.org/2009/08/mfas-new-billboard-asks-michigan-drivers-to-choose-vegetarian.html

Media is an excellent tool too. What about a Public Service Announcement like the kind the Ad Council does: .

Great article, Michael, and great ideas from everyone! I really like the idea of going into schools and talking to children about declawing. Children tend to be more in tune with animals than many adults, and if they learn at a young age why declawing is wrong, they may carry that with them into adulthood. Also, contacting vets and expressing your feelings about declawing is good, though this will carry more weight with them if you are already one of their clients. (Those are the opinions that matter to them, just like constituents to a politician; if they think their paying clients want it, they won’t care what people in other cities or states think.) But it can’t hurt to let them know that public opinion is changing! The American veterinary community ASSUMES that every person who cannot declaw their cat will abandon or kill their cat, and they need to know that the American people can be better than that and don’t appreciate being thought of that way! I would caution people that if they want to boycott declawing vets, to be sure they have a good backup plan for where to take their cats in an emergency- for me personally, if the only vet available when every minute counts is a declawing vet, I will make an exception then. The vets that don’t declaw can still be hard to find. As for bumper stickers, the Paw Project has great ones available!

Hi Elle..I hope you do make contact with this vet who declaws all four paws, to embarass him and to disturb his cosy little life of abuse.

When you have you might jot down what happened on this site – comment or article.

Good on you, Elle.

Bob is right, the sticker he refers is highly misleading – disappointing.

Boycotting vets is a great idea. One problem is that it may be hard to find a vet who doesn’t declaw who is within range of a reasonable drive. It seems that 99% of the vets declaw or am I wrong?

Media is a great idea too. How do we get on a TV show? If someone knows someone who can pull some strings I for one would be happy to go on a TV show. I know some of the regulars would be fine representatives of the anti-declaw movement.

I’ll see if I can make contact with someone in TV.

No matter what type of pets you have, I’d urge as many people as possible to boycott the services of vets or clinics that perform declawng. Remember too, that if they are prepared to conceal the truth from cat owners about declawing, what secrets are they hiding from owners of other pets? Can you really trust a vet whom you know prioritises money over patient welfare?

Since money is the main motivation for vets, if their income became substantially reduced because people were taking their pets elsewhere, it may be enough to make them reconsider their stance on declawing. Even those without a conscience would be tempted to jump on the non-declawing band wagon once they realised it would benefit them financially.

We’ve tried appealing to them on scientific and ethical grounds not to declaw, but they continue to ignore us. Let’s use consumer power to hit them where it really hurts – in their pockets.

I clicked on the link for the bumper stickers, and saw some great ones on there. BUT… there is one on there that says “How about we cut out your fingernails?”, which to me, doesn’t nearly address what goes on when a cat is declawed. “Cutting out” a human’s fingernails is nothing- fingernails grow back. It should say something about cutting fingers OFF. Just sayin’…

I adopted a male cat about 12 years ago who was declawed in all four paws. He was a Persian and lived till he was 17 it broke my heart to think of what he went through as a kitten. I notice declawed cats often bite and I can’t blame them since they are crippled and it is their only means to protect themselves after being declawed. I was appalled to find out that a vet is still declawing all four paws in his patient cats and plan on contacting this warped Dr. as soon as I get the information on him. Thank you for a really good article.

A wonderful article and all very good ideas Michael. I hope it will bring a lot more support to educate people about the cruelty of declawing and to ultimately stop it.
It really does need Americans and Canadians themselves to take physical action.
We can’t do much more than we are doing from other countries but if I was over there I’d be organising educational tables on the streets with leaflets to hand out to let people know the truth. I’d be making bookmarks with information on and leaving them around in shops and offices and libraries.
I’d be going round schools giving talks to the children and handing out child orientated posters to them to take home to educate their parents.
There are so many things people who are there on the spot can do, they just need to get motivated to do it.
Gail I’ve tried a few times to contact Oprah Winfrey but with no success, maybe you would have more chance with her from there or with other USA celebrities with TV shows ? Michael wrote a blog to Joanna Lumley here on PoC, but I don’t think it ever reached her, it’s almost impossible!
We do have some celebrities signed our petition but none have offered to take up our cause.
We have to keep on trying to do everything we can for as long as it takes !

In the USA, the media is often the way to get out the word. What about shows like Oprah, The View, 60 Minutes, Montel?

In Boston, we’ve got local shows like Chronicle, Team 5 Investigates, Help Me Hank, I-Team, etc. These shows are about the Boston area as well as investigative reports as to why things are. Seems to me that using the media to spread the word, even if it means being somewhat of a pest to get it done.