Nova Scotia, Canada, Becomes First Province to Ban Cat Declawing
The Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association announced in December that they were banning cat declawing, and after the three-month grace period the ban is now in effect. Nova Scotia is now the first Canadian province to have banned the practice of removing a cat’s claws, with the ban already in place in Australia, UK, Europe, and some cities in California.
“I see declawing as a mutilation of an animal for no direct benefit to the animal. It’s something that’s done mostly to protect furniture,” retired veterinarian Hugh Chisholm has said, adding “It would be the equivalent to you taking a very sharp knife and cutting off your finger at the last knuckle joint.”
Declawing a cat doesn’t just involve removing their claws, it amputates some of the bones in your cat’s paws. There are rare instances where declawing cats can be useful, people with “a disorder or disease that would make them not heal properly from an accidental scratch,” or taking “medication that depressed their immune systems, like chemotherapy,” would be at risk, Jeff Goodall said, a Bedford veterinarian.
