A bill to prohibit cat declawing by anyone other than a licensed veterinarian passed the California Assembly on April 28.
Lee said declawing is a barbaric surgical procedure that permanently disables cats.
The bill passed the Assembly floor on April 28 with bipartisan support on a vote of 72–0. Seven lawmakers did not vote on the measure.
Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, a Republican from San Diego, said he strongly supported the legislation.
“It is not often that I am found in alignment with my colleague from the Bay Area, but this is a no-brainer,” DeMaio said during the floor debate. “This is about preventing animal cruelty.”
The lawmaker said the procedure was the equivalent of cutting a human’s finger off at the first knuckle.
“It is not an issue of personal freedom,” DeMaio added. “Our Legislature bans barbaric practices all the time. Our furry friends do not have a voice.”
The bill now heads to the state Senate. It had not been assigned a committee hearing as of April 29.
According to a legislative analysis of the measure, the bill would allow only a veterinarian to declaw a cat. The licensed professional could perform the procedure only for a therapeutic purpose, such as for injury, infection, disease, or other conditions that jeopardize the cat’s health.
The bill defines declawing as the amputation of partial digits, or any other procedure where a portion of a cat’s paw is amputated, or any other procedure that prevents the normal functioning of a cat’s claws.
Declawing would not be approved for cosmetic or aesthetic purposes under the bill.
Also, veterinarians would have to file a written statement with the state’s Veterinary Medical Board to explain the reason for the procedure and to report the date it was performed.
Violating the law could result in fines and suspension or revocation of the veterinarian’s license.
The bill is sponsored by the Paw Project, a nonprofit focused on ending declawing. The organization claims the procedure can do lifelong damage.
“Declawing removes an integral part of an animal’s anatomy and subjects animals to the risks of pain, infection, behavioral changes, and lifelong lameness,” the Paw Project said in a statement to the Legislature. “Safe and effective alternatives to declawing include simple training, nail caps, and other established deterrent methods.”
The California Veterinary Medical Association opposes the bill, according to a legislative analysis.
“While this bill is aimed at prohibiting veterinarians from performing a surgical declawing procedure on cats under certain circumstances, it would—if passed—have a far-reaching and precedential impact on a veterinarian’s ability to practice veterinary medicine,” the group stated.
The group said it is “deeply concerned that the veterinary profession is being singled out among our fellow healing arts professionals with legislation proposing to ban specific medical and surgical procedures in statutes, which is a dangerous precedent.”
“Scratching is a normal behavior of cats, but destructive scratching represents approximately 15 to 42 percent of feline behavior complaints,” the national veterinarian association reported.
In some cases, cats are also declawed to protect people, particularly those who are elderly, diabetic, or have compromised immune systems and can suffer life-threatening complications from cat scratches, according to the association.
Banning declawing has drawn the attention of animal activist organizations throughout the United States.
In 2020, the American Veterinary Medical Association revised its formal policy regarding the declawing of domestic cats. The new policy discourages the practice as an elective procedure and supports nonsurgical alternatives.
The association suggests owners speak with their veterinarians about natural scratching behavior of cats and alternatives to surgery.
The group estimates that 31 percent of all U.S. cat owners have their cats declawed.
