Letter: Leave declaw decisions to the veterinarians

The more than 1,800 highly trained and licensed veterinarians who belong to the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (ISVMA) face difficult, real-life decisions when considering declawing to ensure the well-being of a cat with its well-established family. Veterinarians care deeply about cats and have sworn an oath to protect them.

Cat declawing is not common in Illinois, and ISVMA stands firmly with the ASPCA, one of the world's largest humane societies, in asserting that declaw procedures be a last resort. Yet some Illinois legislators are pushing a declawing ban, removing medical professionals from the decision-making process for pets in their care. The bill (HB1533) is now being considered by the Senate.

We find the bill's language rigid and confusing. The importance of maintaining the human-cat bond in situations where the health of a pet's family member is at risk is dismissed entirely by the bill. Consider an elderly woman whose physician says her fragile skin cannot withstand a scratch from her precious pet, or a child newly diagnosed as immunocompromised. Under the proposed declawing bill, those cats would be removed from the only families they've ever known.

Further, while proponents maintain the proposed law would allow cats with any physical ailment an exemption to the declaw ban, ISVMA members and legal advisers disagree. One such example is whether a cat with a skin condition that causes it to self-injure through excessive scratching could be declawed. Veterinarians would be left wondering what's legal and what's not when a cat's life hangs in the balance.

When declawing is advised for cat well-being, veterinarians use the utmost care, state-of-the-art surgical practices and highly effective pain medication. The proposed ban puts the very cats it seeks to protect at risk of abandonment, life in a shelter or physician-assisted suicide. Please tell your state senator to leave the decisions regarding cat health care to our trusted, local veterinarians - the true animal health experts.

Joanne Carlson

President

Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association