Gavin Newsom Signs Anti Declaw Bill AB 867 in California Making Cat Declaw Illegal by Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins

Governor Gavin Newsom just signed California bill AB 867 banning cat declaw aka onychectomy. California is now the third U.S. state to do so after New York and Maryland. The law only permits veterinarians to perform declawing when medically necessary to address an issue with the claws, nail bed, or toe bone that compromises the cat's health. This action is part of a growing trend, with over a dozen U.S. cities and many other countries also prohibiting declawing due to concerns about its harm and the availability of humane alternatives.  

I've known the main proponent of the bill veterinarian Dr Jennifer Conrad for 25 years. She's been the veterinarian for Animal Advocates for many years. I met her at a Los Angeles Animal Services Commission meeting in 2000. She was speaking about banning cat declaw at the meeting. She has worked extremely hard over the many years to get cat declaw banned. First she got domestic cat declaw banned in West Hollywood in 2003. Then she got big cat declaw banned in California in 2004. Then she got big cat declaw banned for all animals under a USDA license in the US in 2006. She got cat declaw banned in other cities and states. She made it illegal for landlords to mandate that tenants' cats be declawed in 2012.

During all of this time Jenny Conrad faced huge obstacles from the veterinary industry who makes money off cat declaw. She had paid lobbyists such as Ed Boks, Edward Boks fighting her proposed declaw bans. Edward Boks was paid to go to city council meetings to promote cat declaw. Ed Boks even made a website with lots of articles he wrote promoting the benefits of declaw and minimizing all the huge drawbacks. I bet he will now come out and say he was always against cat declaw. I saved his old website and articles if anyone needs them. His user name is listed as the author of the blog and articles. He took money to promote cruelty to animals. 

There were others who fought against Jenny such as Dave Weisman, AVMA, CVMA. Some  had personal agendas and others just wanted to keep making millions by inhumanely amputating cats' claws causing them life long suffering. I'm so thankful that good won out over evil. It only took over 25 years of very hard stressful work by a team of animal advocates. 

Author Assemblymember Alex Lee, Coauthor Senator Weiner

Link to bill https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB867/id/3186763

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

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Oppose Virginia Bill HB 1354 Unless Amended - Current Amendment is Harmful to All - Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

OPPOSITION TO VIRGINIA BILL 1354 UNLESS AMENDED

to DelMMartinez, delishin, delhseibold, senatorroem, senatorstanley, senatorboysko, senatorperry, senatorsubramanyam, senatormarsden, senatorfavola, senatorfrench, senatorhackworth, senatorhashmi, senatormulchi, senatorobenshain, senatorpekarsky, senatorsalim, senatorstuart, senatorsuetterlein, senatorwilliamsgraves, info@pawproject, Info@animaladvocates

Animal Advocates has been involved with anti cat declaw for over 20 years. We've worked with The Paw Project during that time to educate the public about how harmful declawing a cat is for humans, animal shelters, veterinarians and cats. The current version is misguided and not based on facts or science, see below. Please, oppose or amend bill HB 1354.

"The current version of the bill, as a result of amendments from the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association, allow any cat to be declawed if the cat’s owner obtains a note from a physician stating that scratches from the cat would pose a health risk for the owner. The bill would reinforce the false idea among human medical doctors that cat scratches are a legitimate human health concern and reason for declawing.

In should be noted that NO human health authority recommends declawing to protect human health. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have gone on record saying that declawing cats is not advised to protect human health. Neither the National Hemophilia Foundation nor the American Cancer Society recommend declawing to protect human patients. The American Association of Feline Practitioners, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Animal Hospital Association agree and cite these human health authority opinions.

This bill would make physicians unwitting collaborators in giving credibility to the premise that declawing can benefit human health. Between uninformed doctors and doctors willing to sign anything to get annoying patients out of their offices quickly, there will still be a loophole. It would also constitute a liability risk to the physicians (and veterinarians) since declawed cats have been proven more likely to bite than non-declawed cats, and bites are a more serious health concern than scratches.

Veterinarians who don't want to declaw will feel pressured by clients who come to their offices with a doctor's note. Veterinarians will find it difficult to say no to a physician’s prescription. Real bans, like the ones in New York and Maryland, help veterinarians who don't want the stress of arguing with a client about declawing. The veterinary profession has a high suicide rate, and this added stress is the kind of thing that contributes to it."

--

Mary Cummins

President

Animal Advocates

www.AnimalAdvocates.us

www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

• Mary Cummins LinkedIn
• Mary Cummins Meet up
• Animal Advocates custom Facebook name
• Mary Cummins Real Estate blog
• Animal Advocates on Google maps
• Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates
• Mary Cummins biography resume short
• Mary Cummins Real Estate Services
• Animal Advocates fan page at Facebook.com
• Mary Cummins Animal Advocates Squirrel Rescue
• Mary Cummins Animal Advocates on Flickr photos
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• Mary Cummins on Picasa web photo albums
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• Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates on Classmates
• Mary Cummins on VK
• Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates on Google+

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