Declawing, Debarking, Tail Docking, Ear Cropping
Declawing, Debarking, Tail Docking, Ear Cropping
Declawing
DECLAWING IS NOT LIKE A MANICURE. Too often, people think that declawing is a simple surgery that removes a cat’s nails—the equivalent of having your fingernails trimmed.
Declawing is the amputation of the last bone of each toe. If performed on a human being, it would be like cutting off each finger at the last knuckle.
The standard method of declawing is amputating with a scalpel or guillotine clipper. The wounds are closed with stitches or surgical glue, and the feet are bandaged. Another method is laser surgery, in which a small, intense beam of light cuts through tissue by heating and vaporizing it. However, it’s still the amputation of the last toe bone of the cat and carries with it the same long-term risks of lameness and behavioral problems as does declawing with scalpels or clippers.
Medical drawbacks to declawing include pain, infection, tissue necrosis, lameness, and back pain.
Newly declawed cats shift their body weight backward onto the large central pad of the front feet and off the toes. If this altered gait persists over time, it can cause stress on the leg joints and spine, and could lead to damage and arthritis.
For some cats, declawing may cause them to stop using the litter box. Some cats may become biters because they no longer have their claws for defense.
All HSSCM cats are spayed/neutered. Declaw surgery is performed under general anesthesia. Multiple exposures to general anesthesia in a short time frame may increase health risks.
Scratching is normal cat behavior. Cats scratch to remove the dead husks from their claws, mark territory, and stretch their muscles.
The current AVMA policy on Declawing of Domestic Cats recommends that the procedure only be performed after exhausting other methods of controlling scratching behavior or if it has been determined that the cat’s claws present a human health risk. Position statements of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and the American Animal Hospital Association oppose declawing as an elective procedure.
Declawing most cats is already illegal in much of Europe and in several major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. Similar measures are under consideration in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey and in newly introduced Michigan House Bill 5508.
Debarking
Devocalization (also termed debarking, devoicing or bark softening) is a surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia to resect varying amounts of the vocal folds or cords.
Pros: Animals will be relinquished to shelters or euthanized if owner can’t debark their dogs. In kennels, debarking dogs protects workers’ ears. Neighbors and communities prefer silent dogs.
Cons: Dogs use barking as communication. Barking is a normal dog behavior. There may be surgical complications from debarking surgery.
Other solutions: behavior modification and noise management through training, etc.
In our community: the county does not provide ordinances related to barking. In the City of Battle Creek
No person owning, possessing or having charge or control of an animal shall:
(d) Own, harbor or keep any animal which, by frequent or loud habitual barking, yelping or howling, causes annoyance to other persons residing in the neighborhood.
The American Kennel Club states that “debarking is a viable veterinary procedure that may allow a dog owner to keep a dog that barks excessively in its loving home rather than to be forced to surrender it to a shelter. Debarking should only be performed by a qualified, licensed veterinarian after other behavioral modification efforts to correct excessive barking have failed. As with other veterinary medical decisions, the decision to debark a dog is best left to individual owners and their veterinarian.”
The American Veterinary Medical Association, American Animal Hospital Association and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, oppose laws that would make devocalization illegal.
The procedure is outlawed as a form of mutilation in the United Kingdom and all countries that have signed the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. In the United States, devocalization is illegal in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Warwick, Rhode Island. Michigan House Bill 6031 was introduced in 2018 and referred to the committee on agriculture, where it remains.
Tail Docking
The AVMA opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes. The AVMA encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards.
The procedure is not permitted or is highly restricted in many countries, including most European Member States, Australia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and the Virgin Islands.
Maryland and Pennsylvania are the only states that have provisions restricting the tail docking of dogs. Pennsylvania prohibits the docking of a dog’s tail that is over 5 days old. The law does not prohibit a veterinarian from performing a tail docking procedure if the dog is at least 12 weeks old and the veterinarian is using anesthesia. Between 5 days and 12 weeks of age, tail docking may only be performed if it is deemed medically necessary by a licensed veterinarian. Maryland law provides that only veterinarians may perform the procedure using anesthesia and only when it is appropriate.
Alaska, Louisiana, and West Virginia allow tail docking to be performed as long as the procedure is done in a sanitary manner, minimizes the animal’s pain and distress, and is done in a timely manner.
Ear Cropping
The AVMA opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes. The AVMA encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards.
Some breeds of dogs in the United States customarily have their ears reduced with a blade or scissors to modify their shape and, in some cases, allow a naturally drooping ear to stand upright. Cropping is performed when dogs are between 6 and 12 weeks old depending on breed and body condition. In larger breeds, after surgery the ears are positioned with tape, bandages or other devices to encourage an upright position. Well-controlled studies addressing the animal welfare implications of cropping dogs’ ears do not exist. However case studies support certain risks associated with the procedure.
The American Kennel Club supports owners who choose to crop: “…ear cropping, tail docking, and dewclaw removal, as described in certain breed standards, are acceptable practices integral to defining and preserving breed character and/or enhancing good health.” However, dogs with cropped ears may not compete in United Kingdom Kennel Club events.
Many veterinary organizations, in addition to the AVMA, oppose cosmetic cropping including the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and Australian Veterinary Association. Cropping has been deemed unacceptable in the United Kingdom for more than a century and is currently prohibited in Australasia and most European and Scandinavian countries.