I have watched neuters, a spay, and seen mammary lumps being removed. I'm on a veterinary assitant practicum.

Thankfully the vets that I work with will not declaw an animal unless it is the LAST resort and they have worked continuously with the client (I still don't agree with that but at least I know they try, and they know that the client could go somewhere to get the procedure done for cheap, putting the animal at risk), or if it's because the animal needed it for a medical reason. I would not watch or assist in a declaw surgery unless I knew it was for the best of the animal, which I honestly think is, in most cases, an oxymoron in itself.