Pass California Declaw Bans, So Other Cities Follow

From Kinship Circle

Urge Santa Monica and Malibu city officials to pass a ban on declawing cats. Passage of this law will encourage other cities to do the same.

Declawing hurts. It's a "surgery of convenience" for people with no benefit for cats.

Take action before October 27, 2009!

CONTACT

CITY OF SANTA MONICA
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
phone (310) 458-8201
fax (310) 458-1621

Mayor Ken Genser: city@genser.org
Mayor Pro Tempore Pam O'Connor: pam.oconnor@smgov.net
Councilmember Richard Bloom: richard.bloom@smgov.net
Councilmember Gleam Davis: gleam.davis@smgov.net
Councilmember Bobby Shriver: bobby.shriver@smgov.net

Councilmember Robert Holbrook
760 Ermont Place
Santa Monica, CA 90402
phone (310) 394-1094
fax (310) 393-7948 and (310) 393-7948
email: robert.holbrook@smgov.net

Councilmember Kevin McKeown
848-E 16th Street
Santa Monica, 90403
phone (310) 458-1621
fax (310) 393-3609
email: kevin@mckeown.net

City Manager P. Lamont Ewell
phone (310) 458-8301
manager@smgov.net

Assistant City Manager Jennifer Phillips
manager@smgov.net

CITY OF MALIBU
23815 Stuart Ranch Road
Malibu, CA 90265
phone (310) 456-2489
fax (310) 456-3356

Mayor Andy Stern: astern@ci.malibu.ca.us
Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Barovsky: sbarovsky@ci.malibu.ca.us
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner: jwagner@ci.malibu.ca.us
Councilmember John Sibert: jsibert@ci.malibu.ca.us
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich: pcu@ci.malibu.ca.us

City Manager Jim Thorsen
(310) 456-2489 x226
jthorsen@ci.malibu.ca.us
Executive Assistant Mary Linden
phone (310) 456-2489 x226
mlinden@ci.malibu.ca.us

INFORMATION / SAMPLE LETTER FOR TALKING POINTS:

Dear City Officials of Santa Monica and Malibu, California:

I thank both Santa Monica and Malibu City Council Members for their support of a ban on the declawing of cats. Your informed position on this inhumane practice is highly commendable. I urge officials in both cities to enact the proposed bans and thereby establish a precedent for communities worldwide.

Declawing is already illegal or restricted in over 20 countries, including
the United Kingdom and Canada. The Humane Society of the United States and ASPCA oppose declawing. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons also rejects the operation, describing it as "mutilation."

Overwhelming evidence shows declawing causes severe behavioral problems that often lead guardians to abandon their animals in overcrowded shelters. Undesirable behavior in 33% of declawed cats begins post-procedure, according to a 2001 study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (JAVMA). National shelter surveys reveal that 70-80% of cats surrendered for offensive behavior are declawed.

San Francisco Care and Control, East Bay SPCA, Palo Alto Humane Society, and other shelters oppose declawing. Los Angeles SPCA portrays the act of declawing cats as "cruel, unnecessary, and inhumane."

Cats with intact claws are relinquished for human-related reasons such as
"moving" or "new baby," whereas declawed felines enter shelters with
behavioral issues, claims shelter director William Lombardi of Gloucester
County, New Jersey. "When a cat is brought into the shelter because it is
biting or (not using the litter box)," Lombardi says, "the first thing we ask is, 'Is it declawed?'" For the estimated 70% of surrendered, declawed
cats who are euthanized, the surgery is a literal death sentence.

Moreover, declawing generates suffering and permanent disability. The
invasive procedure amputates not only the claw, but also the entire last
"knuckle" of a cat's toes. Veterinary experts recognize laser or scalpel
declawing as among the most painful surgeries routinely performed.

When declaw bans reach the floor for a vote in Santa Monica and Malibu, I  encourage both cities to endorse this model legislation.

Thank you...

Thank you for everything you do for animals!