The AVMA statement on declawing:
“AVMA Policy: Declawing of Domestic Cats: The AVMA discourages the declawing (onychectomy) of cats as an elective procedure and supports non-surgical alternatives to the procedure. The AVMA respects the veterinarian’s right to use professional judgment when deciding how to best protect their individual patients’ health and welfare. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the veterinarian to counsel the owner about the natural scratching behavior of cats, the alternatives to surgery, as well as the details of the procedure itself and subsequent potential complications. Onychectomy is a surgical amputation and if performed, multi-modal perioperative pain management must be utilized.”
What a vet tech says:
I don’t need to add words but I’m compelled to. The words above are powerful enough on their own. But we knew about this. We have known it for years. The veterinarians of America have been declawing cats for decades under the pretext that they are carrying out a minor operation when in fact it is the partial amputation of 10 toes. I have written extensively about this obnoxious operation. How utterly cruel it is. How unnecessary it is. How the paying public have been conned consistently by these veterinarians. They have a duty to make declawing a last resort and only when necessary, in the interests of the cat’s health and welfare. They wantonly and callously break that rule. They wantonly break their ethical code as if it never existed. Their oath has been shredded. It is meaningless. It is a joke. I can visualise the young American veterinarian standing up after their training and raising their right hand and pronouncing this oath solemnly to those present.
This is it:
“Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society, through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health and the advancement of medical knowledge.”
“I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics. I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.”
Look at it and digest it, please. It says that they solemnly swear to use their knowledge and skills to protect animal health and welfare and to prevent and relieve animal suffering. And yet the declawing operation is entirely unnecessary and it mutilates domestic cats in their millions. It achieves the exact opposite to this bloody oath. The declawing operation tramples all over this pathetic oath. They shouldn’t bother with it. It is completely dishonest of them to actually state it and I suppose believe in it for a year until they start chopping off the ends of the toes of kittens causing enormous pain and often resulting in disabilities leading to early euthanasia because of botched surgeries in their hundreds of thousands. Yes, I’m not exaggerating. Just do your research and you’ll find out that this is a calamity and a catastrophe of gargantuan proportions in terms of animal welfare. It is an ongoing crime which occurs day-in and day-out across the United States. And nobody, nobody is doing a thing about it except those fine people who fight against declawing and who desperately want to see it banned.
