Letter: End cruel cat declawing

Our New Hampshire legislature is deciding the outcome of House Bill 201, which would ban the inhumane practice of declawing cats. The Concord Monitor article on Jan. 22 covered Michelle Conroy’s testimony about how, when she worked in a vet clinic in the 1990s, the cats awoke from declaw surgery in excruciating pain, tearing at their bandages.

Declawing, or onychectomy, involves amputating the last bone of a cat’s toe, whether by using guillotine clippers, scalpels or lasers. Claims of new, less harmful methods are false. Laser declawing, for example, burns the bone off. Today, cats suffer just as much as they did then. Clinics often misrepresent laser declawing to justify using the expensive laser equipment purchased.

Besides the lifelong pain the cats endure, often in silence, removing claws disrupts natural behaviors such as stretching, climbing, grooming and just feeling safe. Declawed cats are also more prone to behavior issues, such as biting and refusing to use the litter box, and they are being turned into shelters because of behavior problems. CitytheKitty.org is a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public on the cruelty of declawing and promoting humane alternatives like scratching posts, nail trims and Soft Paws. Contact your representatives to plead with them to support HB 201. Urge them to follow the example of European veterinary standards and four other U.S. states in banning this barbaric practice. Protecting even one kitten from this painful procedure is worth it.

Linda Dionne

Raymond