CA Bill Attempts To Ban Cat Declawing — Again

CALIFORNIA — A California legislator is seeking to ban the declawing of cats once and for all with AB 867.

Although the American Veterinary Medical Association has discouraged vets from performing the surgeries and more than 30 countries have banned the practice, five different efforts to kill the practice since 2018 have failed.

Still, Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-Milpitas) — who has two cats, Udon and Soba — hopes the sixth time will be the charm.

“I believe that when it is performed for any reason other than the health of the cat, then I believe it is cruel and inhumane,” Lee said at a legislative hearing last week.

Lee explained that the equivalent treatment in humans would be like amputating a first toe or finger joint.

"So, done for cosmetic reasons, it is pretty cruel," he said.

AB 867 would prohibit veterinarians from performing declawing surgeries in California unless it is being performed for a medical purpose for the health of the cat.

Jennifer Conrad, who works for the Paw Project, the world's largest nonprofit dedicated to ending declawing, also spoke at the hearing.

"I'm here to ask you to understand that cat declawing is — should really be called cat de-knuckling," said Conrad, who is a licensed vet in California.

Some 22 percent of American cats are declawed, according to a poll by Humane World for Animals.

"That is not rare," she said, adding that 76 percent of declaw surgeries are performed on kittens 8 months old or less.

Cat declawing is banned in many places, including some California cities. in 2003, West Hollywood passed the nation's first law banning the surgery. After that, seven other Golden State cities followed suit, according to Lee's office.

New York became the first state in the U.S. to prohibit the practice in 2019. Since then, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Massachusettes have passed laws banning it.

Lee was a on staff for Calabasas Democratic state Sen. Henry Stern, who authored two of the previous declawing bills that failed, CalMatters reported. Lee then co-authored another bill before he became a lawmaker in 2020.