Israel has jumped on the declawing "ban" wagon!!!

[moosmom]

No fire here, Mrspunkysmom. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. In some cases like in your friend's, it can be a life threatening problem. In her case, I would've adopted an already declawed cat. But that's a moot issue at this point.

What bothers me is the way people feel the need to "modify" their pets by declawing to save their precious furniture, or devocalization because they bark. Animals do that! It's part of who they are. Did you know that many, if not most dog breeders have the devocalization done on their show dogs so they won't bark at shows.

All this maiming shows such disrespect towards pets simply because people won't accept them for what they are, train them to not scratch or bark (there are collars) for their own selfish convenience. JMO.

Let the debate begin!!! LOL

[Barbara]

Declawing is illegal in Germany- I actually had never heard about it before I joined this board.

[Randi]

I had heard it mentioned, but thought it was "only" the nail itself that was removed. I'm glad it's banned here, also.

[AvaJoy]

Congratulations to Israel, Germany and Denmark for their compassionate, feline-friendly laws! Puts the USA to shame.

These two points were made earlier by mrspunkysmom and are food for thought:

I think if the difference is some cat will be homeless or euthanized then the the lesser evil is to find a vet that will do a good job of declawing.

I think a ban on declawing is a good idea. But let's reduce the pet population to manageable levels, and perhaps then a ban on declawing would be able to take force.

[mrspunkysmom]

No fire here, Mrspunkysmom. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. In some cases like in your friend's, it can be a life threatening problem. In her case, I would've adopted an already declawed cat. But that's a moot issue at this point.

I tried to get her to adopt older pets from the shelter. Spend time with them and pick the personalities that she liked. But someone she knew had some kittens and she wanted to give them a home.

She's had cats in the past, none declawed, but these didn't bit and attack her like she was a cat toy.

What bothers me is the way people feel the need to "modify" their pets by declawing to save their precious furniture, or devocalization because they bark. Animals do that! It's part of who they are. Did you know that many, if not most dog breeders have the devocalization done on their show dogs so they won't bark at shows.

No modifying here. I can't stand it when dogs ears and tails are clipped.

I had to get rid of my last couch because the fabric couldn't hold up to cats. My first couch came from My mother that had put upholstery on it designed to withstand three growing children. The frame finally gave.

Right now I have a faux suede fabric and it does okay. It helps that I have cat trees.

If you can't make your dog be quiet you should not be in the business.

All this maiming shows such disrespect towards pets simply because people won't accept them for what they are, train them to not scratch or bark (there are collars) for their own selfish convenience. JMO.

I agree.

Let the debate begin!!! LOL

It has begun.

Thanks Avajoy. The store cat Alex that was recently adopted was declawed because his mistress had cancer and her skin was thin. He was her therapy cat until she died, accompanying her to her sessions.

I think there is a place for it when necessary, but not because you don't want to ruin your furniture.

And talk about modifying your pets: I can not stand it that they have engineered hairless cats and munchkin cats, even if these were originally caused by natural variations. I thought it was the saliva that caused allergies and not the hair. Breeders are doing to cats what early man did to dogs. But dogs are mainly working animals and it was a matter of survival. It's like the cat is some trophy to be admired.

I think the hairless kitties are cute, but I like my cats with hair.


Breeding to create new breeds with out physical limitations should be enough.

[moosmom]

Mrspunkysmom,

How could you NOT love this face??? No fur but what a ham!!!!



Or THIS??? My purebred Munchkin who is also a rescue.

[mrspunkysmom]

I would never turn away an animal no matter what. It's not their fault. I do not agree with the ethics. I don't like Persian's or Peke's pushed-in noses either. A Persian with a regular nose is actually quite beautiful.

I did some research. Apparently hairless cats are a naturally occurring mutation. But Breeding for a hairless breed has not been without it's faults. We are trying to do in a few generations what earlier man knew would take generations.

BTW, you kitties are beautiful, even the Sphinx's. I could love all of them no matter what.

I really wigged my mother out years ago. I was visiting and made friends with her new Scottie. I am not a dog person. They can get so smelly. And can be so loud. Scotties have a bark belonging to a dog 3 or 4 times their size.

Anyway, my comment to her was, "It's not Molly's fault she's a dog." So Molly and I became friends. I even sat with her through the birth of her second litter.

So while we keep trying to stop declawing, we need to stop breeding for effects that are harmful to the animal, and stop disfiguring animals by such actions as clipping ears and tails of dogs.