New York has become the first state in the US to ban the declawing of cats.
The measure was signed into law Monday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, after lawmakers passed it this June. Efforts to ban the inhumane practice of declawing cats had been before lawmakers in New York state in the past and didn’t get passed. However, this time the bill passed by a wide margin.
Many veterinarians and politicians were on board with this ban including Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who sponsored the bill. She has condemned the invasive nature of declawing in a statement: “It is not like getting a mani/pedi,” she said. “It’s a brutal surgical procedure.” She says this new ban should be a model for other states.
Under the new law, veterinarians who perform a declaw surgery will incur a $1,000 fine — meaning pet owners will no longer be able to have their cats declawed for cosmetic, aesthetic and other non-medical reasons.
Rosenthal took to Twitter to celebrate her bill finally becoming law:
Cats around NYS and the people who love them can rejoice as my bill to ban #CatDeclaw is now law! New York is now the first state in nation to ban declawing, but it will not be the last! pic.twitter.com/bpEYtfQDDX
— Linda B. Rosenthal (@LindaBRosenthal) July 22, 2019
Cat declawing is already illegally in much of Europe and many Canadian provinces, as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.
To be clear, The Catington Post is a strong advocate against declawing. It’s a painful amputation of a cat’s knuckles – not simply removing claws, as many people still believe. It’s a procedure that’s extremely painful, and can have lasting, even lifelong, emotional and physical effects on a cat, whose very nature is to use his claws.
