ALLENTOWN, Pa. — When Allentown banned the declawing of cats within its city limits last week, it joined an ongoing effort to ban the practice nationwide.
In Pennsylvania, Allentown is only the second city to ban the procedure. Pittsburgh banned cat declawing last year.
- In banning cat declawing, Allentown becomes the second city in the state to outlaw the practice
- The surgery removes bones in a cat's paw and can lead to pain and other issues throughout the animal's life
- Instead of surgery, the Humane Society of the United States suggests addressing an animal's behavior and providing scratching alternatives
So did the state of Maryland.
New York was the first state to ban the practice back in 2019.
New Jersey has tried several times to outlaw declawing, and now has a bill circulating through the state legislature that would ban it.
For Kristen Tullo, Pennsylvania Director of the Humane Society of the United States, these are steps in the right direction.
“Declawing a cat isn't just removing their claws," Tullo said. It involves amputating the last bone of each toe in a cat’s paw,” she said, in an interview with LehighValleyNews.com.
As detailed by the humane society, onychectomy — the procedure popularly known as declawing — is “like cutting off your fingers at the last knuckle.”
Tullo said that declawing can lead to pain in the animal’s paws, back pain, infection and other issues.
“They usually experience this pain for the rest of their lives,” Tullo said.
She said a cat that has been declawed can see behavioral changes because of the loss of its claws — often turning to biting for defense.
Because of that, Tullo said communities where declawing is banned typically see fewer cats turned in to shelters.
“That is one of the number one reasons that people surrender cats to their shelter,” Tullo said, referring to behavioral changes after declawing.
“They usually experience this pain for the rest of their lives."Kristen Tullo, Pennsylvania Director of the Humane Society of the United States, on the lasting effects of declawing.
Instead, she said that anyone who is concerned about cats damaging their furniture with their claws — which, Tullo noted is the No. 1 reason people give for having cats declawed — instead should focus on addressing the behavior.
“The best thing that you can do is give your cat alternatives for scratching furniture,” she said.
Getting toys and scratching posts that a cat can sink its claws into, while protecting furniture with double-sided tape, Tullo said, can be very effective ways to address the issue without resorting to surgery.
This step is the second recent move to protect pets in Allentown. Last month, council ended the sales of animals that were born in “mills.”
When Allentown’s declawing ban goes into effect — 10 days after its Nov. 16 passage — anyone who performs the procedure will face a $500 fine.
