Are there any movements politically to ban unnecessary cosmetic declawing in the US?

As someone who works in cat rescue, I am generally opposed to declawing and would not adopt a cat out to a home that planned to declaw. However, that being said, there are some cats that are really, really bad clawers despite training. To stay in an indoor home either means they have to live with a family that doesn't mind their house being destroyed, which probably means it also isn't clean or safe, or they have to be declawed to live with any normal family.. The other option is surrender and euthanasia.

I would rather see a cat stay with their family but be declawed then to see a cat given up or living outside.

The reason animal rights groups aren't worried about passing a ban against declawing is that they're just going to slowly ban pets without people realizing it's happening just like they're banning meat without people understanding that's what the legislation does..

For instance, allowing breed specific legislation now gives them a shoe in to slowly ban dogs. People will think they are voting for human safety when they're really banning a breed that has killed two people per year on average. That's only 1000 times less people then the ones who died drowning in 5 gallon pails last year. Blanket spay/neuter legislation without exceptions that are reasonable will slowly get rid of purebred dogs. PETA has already shown it's good at killing any dogs it takes in, so that will take care of the extras. They're already banning meat with things like banning battery cages and farrowing crates completely rather then just limiting time spent in them.. So, before you know it, dog food will be astronomical as farming will be slowly banned in one state after another. People won't be able to afford dog food which will end it for the rest except for a select few..

That's why they aren't wasting money on a declaw ban.. They've already essentially banned meat production in five states and they're working on a lot more.. You won't be able to feed your family meat, much less your dog or cat..

I think it's a nice idea but some of the articles I've read about it say that they admit that they can't afford to enforce it. Also, the Los Angeles ban still needs to go through another round of voting and be signed by the mayor. Spaying and neutering is also legally required here (Los Angeles), but I don't think anyone enforces it. There are coupon programs and at the time that law passed there was a somewhat increased effort in getting out the word that spaying and neutering is good. Hopefully these ordinances will cause people to think about options more. At the very least, if they actually do keep vets from being able to push declawing on people who don't know what it is, that should save a lot of toes. My parents had cats with claws when my brother and I were born. Neither of us were injured. And that's not because my mom was careful. When I was learning to stand up I apparently pulled myself up on a chair where their skittish cat was sleeping. My mom said she was afraid I would upset the cat but all she did was run and grab a camera. The cat woke up but didn't care. We knew not to pull tails or do anything mean and if we had tried that stuff we would have deserved a scratch anyway.

There are a few places in the US, I believe, that have made cat declawing illegal. A city in California did criminalize it only to have the law overturned. Sadly it was the Calif. Veterinary Medical Association that helped overturn it (or played a large part). As long as Americans view pets as things that can be modified or even disposed of for their (owners') own convenience, we won't see a widespread ban on declawing.

I agree with Dolly.

Just to add: My cats are declawed. My vet assured me it wasn't painful, and the surgery took less than an hour. They were playing again the very same day.

But now, they don't shred the furniture, throw rugs, carpets, and table cloths.

I treat my cats like family, they are very well taken care of. But they are much easier to care for when they aren't shredding stuff and each other.

If declawing were to become illegal, some cats wouldn't find homes, period.

I highly doubt that will ever pass. Are people trying to have docked tails or cropped ears illegalized? No. Do you know how many cats would never find a home if you couldn't declaw them? Many people wouldn't consider a cat if it had claws to ruin the furniture. I'm not saying I agree with it, but you have to look at it from others point of view.

Many vets already consider declawing to be mutilation of the cat and won't do it unless there's an extreme reason to.