Not only is my cat not declawed, I don't even clip her nails. Imagine, trying to protect yourself and not having anything there to do it with. It would be very cruel.
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Do You De-Claw Your Cat?
- Thread starter evita peron
- Start Date
Fortunately in Australia declawing has been recognised as the barbaric and cruel practice that it is and it is illegal in all states..........praise be!!
Regarding de-voicing that is also illegal in Australia in I think all States with the possible exception of W.A. There are some vets who will do this operation in extreme circumstances.
I have a very very noise stud cat - his voice is the volume of a braying donkey and he can roar about 10 yowls one after the other without drawing breath and every now and then I threaten him with de-voicing but I do not think I could do it. I have heard a de-voiced boy - they can still meow but the volume is much reduced......in fact I may have a seal point boy living here next years that is de-voiced......he is very vocal so it is possibly just as well he has had his operation BUT I am fairly sure I could not do it. "Clyde" my boy loves to sing.
I have a very very noise stud cat - his voice is the volume of a braying donkey and he can roar about 10 yowls one after the other without drawing breath and every now and then I threaten him with de-voicing but I do not think I could do it. I have heard a de-voiced boy - they can still meow but the volume is much reduced......in fact I may have a seal point boy living here next years that is de-voiced......he is very vocal so it is possibly just as well he has had his operation BUT I am fairly sure I could not do it. "Clyde" my boy loves to sing.
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OMG NO i would NEVER declaw Fluffy. If i foud his scratchimng to be a problem (which it looks like it may be) i'd get a scratching post,clip his nails or for drastic i'd try out soft paws. Declawing is cruel,how can people do that to a pet they love?
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NO WAY! Never would I do that to either of my babies. I think it's such an awful thing, and even the bajillion scratches I have from my new kitten won't change my mind. My girlfriend had one of her cats de-clawed, and I gave her such a bad time about it, that the next kitten she got she listend to me and he's still in tact.
I had never even heard of de-voicing a cat or dog!
How awful!
I had never even heard of de-voicing a cat or dog!
I would NEVER (in good consious) declaw a cat. I think it is cruel, inhumane, and vile. The only reason it's ever been done and ever will be done, is for human preferance!
sorry... *sheepish*
~ Salem
sorry... *sheepish*
No I would never declawed my cats, that is abuse to the cat and very painful to there paws. It changes there personlity become more aggressive and bite more. There are other things you can to do prevent them from scratching. I don't think anyone should get there cat's declawed, if you don't want your cat to scratch the furniture then don't get a cat. I adopted a tabby cat that was already declawed and has a broken foot and he is not the same cat. His personlity changes. The women that gave him up to the shelter, didn't even keep him for very long, only had him for 2mos, then she gave him to the shelter. I bet he was a really nice cat before he got declawed and they screw him up by taking his claws out.
That is an amazing idea!!! When I adopt cats out I'm going to put that in my contract!
Hi Dragonlady - this is long, and I do apologize, but I felt strongly compelled to address your comments above ...
I sincerely wish you only the best of luck in trying to enforce that. It truly is a wonderful idea and I know it came straight from the heart of a person strongly (and rightfully!) concerned about an abhorrent practice being performed on one of their precious babies. But *sigh* while this is unfortunate indeed, our laws here in the US still view animals as property, much like a shovel or a coffee maker or some other such thing. And as such, you cannot legally place conditions on the treatment of said property once ownership has been transferred. You may only strongly discourage or advise - you cannot force anyone to care for your kittens in any certain way in your contract.
For example: Let's say I sell you a shovel. In my buyer's agreement, I say that you cannot paint that shovel green, nor can you leave it out in the elements. You happily sign this agreement and off you go, shiny new shovel in hand.
Because I am a responsible and ethical shovel person, I come by your house one day a few weeks or months later to check on the shovel and *GASP* Oh My GOD there it is, painted bright green and laying out in your yard just rusting away.
I take that shovel firmly in hand and cart it right back home with me to care for it the best way I can because afterall, YOU signed my agreement, and I said there would be consequences ... and that I would take that shovel right back home with me if you didn't follow the conditions of my buyer's agreement. You call the police to report your stolen shovel, the police come to my home and arrest me for 1) trespassing and 2) theft of property. We go to court. I come fully prepared with my signed buyer's agreement and you come fully prepared with your shovel's ownership documentation, which legally designates you as it's rightful owner. The judge takes a very short glance at my buyer's agreement, then takes a nice, long look at your ownership documents. I get convicted, sentenced and have to eat the court costs as well as "pay the fine and do the time" if any ... while you get your shovel back and don't have to deal with ~any~ of the consequences I set forth in my buyer's agreement. Plain and simple Law of Rightful Property Ownership 101.
That all now being said - your agreement ~will~ keep the honest people honest, but it won't make the dishonest people suddenly become honest. The only way to get around this is to make certain your kittens go to only the best of homes with people you trust (I've given you some very handy tips below) and make certain your buyers know that your agreement clearly voids any health guarantee or other such promises YOU make to the buyer if you find out one of your kittens was declawed. If, and the good Lord knows I sincerely hope you never have to experience this, but IF a buyer goes against you, immediately contact all the other breeders of your type of cat to notify them of this buyer's name and what they did. If you are like many breeders today, you subscribe to breed-specific email lists or other breeder networking groups - believe me, the word will get around quick-smart and this buyer will NEVER have another kitten from anyone. Don't forget to notify the Breed-Specific rescue orgs too - many of them have similar conditions, and would deny a potential adopter if it was learned that a person applying to adopt defaulted on a Breeder's Agreement.
The same thing goes for the part of many breeders' agreements which state that the cat is NEVER to end up at the shelter ... if for any reason the buyer cannot keep the cat, then the breeder will take it back into his or her home. Of course, you can't enforce that either. But what you CAN do is to microchip each and every kitten that goes out your door with YOUR contact information and instructions to contact YOU in ~all~ circumstances, not the buyer. That way, if one of your cats does show up at a shelter, they will be scanned and YOU will be notified, not the person who surrendered the cat.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but laws in all of the 50 states are similar to the ones here in Virginia. It is up to us as breeders and responsible cat owners to make certain we place our kittens in homes where we know they will be treated with only the highest regard and respect.
Tips on what to do when interviewing a potential kitten buyer: I cannot stress this enough - do your homework on those kitten buyer interviews honey!!! On your application, ask for information about ALL of the cats they have had over the past 15 years (or whatever you feel comfortable with) including names of the animals, dates of ownership and the circumstances of surrender or loss - also ask for their home addresses for the past 15 years (or whatever you feel comfortable with) and then ask for complete names, addresses and telephone numbers of all vets they have used within that same time frame. I'll tell you why this is a good idea in a minute. Then make 100% absolutely sure your contract contains as many medical information release documents signed by the buyer as they have listed vets. Make a separate copy of this release for each individual vet. These signed release documents afford you the right to all medical information about ANY animals these vets have cared for owned by this buyer. Then do not hesitate to call those vets ... ask if any of this person's cats have been declawed - but don't leave it only as the question of "Have YOU ever declawed any of this person's cats", but also ask about any other ones that they might have brought in to be examined there as well.
The reason I suggest you ask for past home addresses is this: If the kitten buyer lists 4 addresses, all in different states, but only TWO vets in TWO of those states, then you will know they are not being honest with you or that they didn't own pets during that time frame. But if they listed that they lived in say ... Maryland from 1995 to 1999 and owned a cat named Boots, but do not have a vet listed for Maryland, be very specific about asking for more information. You follow? Use your gut instincts and if it just doesn't FEEL right, then it probably isn't.
Yours,
Gaye
