Landlords And Declawing

[Ardina]

I thought I'd post my experience with landlords and declawing in case this helps anyone. I'm about to move apartments and had all but signed the lease when my new landlord sent me the pet rules, which stated that declawing was mandatory. I sent a polite email back explaining that my cat fulfilled all the other requirements (spaying, vaccinations, etc.), was well-trained to only use her scratchers, and that I was willing to take full responsibility for any damage that she did if he would waive the declawing requirement. I also sent a link to an article explaining how cruel declawing is and how declawed cats can be more destructive than clawed cats if inappropriate elimination were to occur. Thankfully, my landlord agreed to waive the declaw requirement.

I suspect a lot of landlords are simply uneducated about declawing and/or have those policies in place from back in the day when declawing used to be the standard. But a polite letter never hurts (ideally before signing the lease or adopting a cat) and in this case it worked out. And hopefully, the landlord now knows more about declawing and won't require it of future tenants.

 

[missriss]

Thanks for standing up for kitty claws!

 

[lalagimp]

I've heard of the declawing requirements but I haven't seen them ask to see the cats to verify. I always thought it was ridiculous. I have four cats right now and have had I think up to 6 and none of them destroy anything that I don't let them destroy. We've got cat furniture and I let them mess with my woven baskets and the little indoor outdoor rug I put out in front of the bathroom door.
You seriously want to mutilate my cat because you think he's going to destroy the carpet or claw the paint off the walls?
Um no our manners are just fine, thx.

 

[Ardina]

There's going to be an actual inspection of my cat by the building manager (or so the lease documents claim), which was why I wanted the declaw statement officially removed from the lease. Now I just have to figure out how to keep my cat from panicking around strangers...

 

[maddies momma]

Way to go! Good for you! I'm glad this landlord was able to think reasonably and make a rational decision. Hopefully he takes out this requirement for all tenants and not just you because you stood up to him. Unfortunately not all landlords are good like that but I'm glad yours was! I also think a lot of the time people are so desperate for a place to live, that they don't think they actually could stand up to the landlord about this. It is crazy that landlords think it's ok to demand that somebody else's animal needs to have surgical amputation of its toes. That is not their choice! Imagine landlords requiring humans to have certain surgeries before moving in. That would never stand! Does anyone know the legalities of landlords being able to ask this?
Anyway thanks for what you did and thanks for sharing! It might be helpful if you could share the link you sent him and share some of what you wrote to him as a template for others in the same situation.

 

[daisyd]

Omg ! Declawing illegal here however i was nervous when we moved into our place as we hadn't spoken to the council prior to buying our kitten and didn't think to check if we could have pets ! Thank god the housing officer turned out to be a cat lover as when she came round she said she hadn't seen a kitten that small for years and thought she was cute! Now when she contacts us the first thing she asks is: how is gracie ! Hopefully declawing will be illegal worldwide and in the intern well done you ! Hopefully that clause has been taken out now for all other tenants in your building !

 

[Ardina]

Does anyone know the legalities of landlords being able to ask this?

I looked them up when I was writing the email to my landlord. As far as I know, declawing itself is banned in several cities in California (so proud of my home state ), and Rhode Island and California have made it illegal for landlords to require declawing. But it's pretty much allowed everywhere else in the US.

It might be helpful if you could share the link you sent him and share some of what you wrote to him as a template for others in the same situation.

That's a good idea! Here's the letter I wrote:

Hi,

My cat is spayed, fully vaccinated, and well-trained to only use her scratchers. I am absolutely willing to be responsible for any damage that my cat does, but I am not willing to declaw her for reasons that are outlined here: Declawing Cats Required to Rent? | Little Big Cat. I would greatly appreciate it if you could waive that requirement.

Thank you

 

[darkmavis]

Politeness will get you far when trying to present facts like this. It probably is just an assumption (a stupid one) that cats are going to rip apart a place and landlords blindly put that declawing bit in as a requirement. When we adopted Genever, we lived in an apartment building, and i was worried about the declawing rule too. We picked G on Saturday and the resident relations lady (or whatever her title was) wasn't in on Saturdays. So Sunday we went to her office as soon as she got in and told her the SPCA had left her a message about us bring allowed to have a cat. So she called them back while we were there, so we heard one side of the conversation. "Oh yes, they have to be declawed." ...... "Oh my god, no I didn't know that's what it was, that's terrible. No, they don't need to get it declawed. No." So that was a relief to us, of course, we could adopt our Genever! Hopefully that conversation stuck with her, and hopefully the management company changed their policy.

 

[Ardina]

It's great that she changed her mind when faced with the truth about declawing! Even though it may be a long time until declawing is officially banned, hopefully it will become taboo much earlier as vets refuse to do the surgery and people learn how cruel it is.

 

[red top rescue]

One of our most important functions as cat advocates is to EDUCATE EDUCATE EDUCATE about everything because there is a long of "Fake News" out there about cats.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I thought I'd post my experience with landlords and declawing in case this helps anyone. ... , and that I was willing to take full responsibility for any damage that she did if he would waive the declawing requirement. ... Thankfully, my landlord agreed to waive the declaw requirement.

.. .

There's going to be an actual inspection of my cat by the building manager (or so the lease documents claim), which was why I wanted the declaw statement officially removed from the lease. Now I just have to figure out how to keep my cat from panicking around strangers...

You and your landlord can come up with an addendum to the lease, a pet agreement with a deposit. If any damage is caused by the cat's claws, payment for repair could come out of your deposit at the end of the lease.

 

[kashmir64]

It was my understanding, via talking with people I know who have rentals, that because of health reasons. from whatever governing body that controls this, that the property owner must replace the carpet and re-paint before it can be re-rented. If this is the case, then why worry about a declaw clause in the contract.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Well, then, that point is moot... in some ways, it's very generous of you to offer to pay for anything your cat might do with her claws if they are required to spend the money anyway on their own no matter what the tenant does.

 

[kashmir64]

This may only be a requirement in my state, but I would check it out.

 

[Ardina]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! My new apartment is wood floor only, so I'm not sure what damage Saipha could do with claws anyways... But in any case, I'm paying a monthly pet fee and put down a general deposit, so the cost of repairing any damages would come out of that according to the lease.

 

[cocobutterfly]

I would NEVER ask any of my tenants to declaw their cats. Wearing shoes in the house will cause far more damage than any cat claw ever will.