By Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer
September 24, 2009 -- Santa Monica could join West Hollywood and Norfolk, Va. on the short list of American cities where cat declawing is banned.
The City Council voted 5 to 1 Tuesday night to instruct staff to draft an ordinance that would outlaw the practice in all situations except when “the procedure is demonstrated to be in the direct therapeutic interest of the animal.”
City officials will have to work fast to beat a state bill passed this year that restricts counties and cities from banning most human and animal medical practices. The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), which opposes bans on declawing, lobbied to get the bill approved. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1.
City Attorney Marsha Moutrie told the council the Santa Monica ordinance would need to be voted on by the first meeting in November to be on the books prior to the state law going into effect.
Council member Richard Bloom noted the tight timeline as a major reason for his voting against the measure, because he did not want officials to rush through what he called “a very complicated and technical subject.”
“We are by this motion proposing to … interfere with the rights that pet owners currently have to make decisions with their veterinarians based on medical and professional ethical standards,” Bloom said.
Bloom noted that although he has been presented with loads of material declaring declawing to be cruel, he has also seen plenty of information saying it is not.
At least three council members need no further convincing that declawing is inhumane. Kevin McKeown and Gleam Davis were the ones who placed the item on the agenda. And Robert Holbrook announced his support for the ban during the meeting.
“We’re not talking here about pampering your pet with a manicure,” McKeown said. “So-called declawing involves ten separate painful amputations of the first joint of each toe on both front paws, 20 amputations if the front and hind paws are done.”
The other council members did not say whether they favored a ban.
Declawing is prohibited to varying degrees in nearly 40 countries throughout the world. West Hollywood became the first American city to halt the practice in 2003.
The CVMA got a Los Angeles Super Court judge to overturn the prohibition. But a state Court of Appeal panel reinstated the ordinance by a 2 to 1 vote.
CVMA President Mark T. Nunez spoke in opposition to a declawing ban at Tuesday’s meeting.
“With current techniques, including laser surgery and current pain management medication, this procedure is not as painful and the outcomes are not always as disastrous as many of the proponents of this ban would have you believe,” Nunez said.
Nunez called declawing “a procedure of last resort” that “veterinarians are not getting rich off of,” stating, “veterinarians are not just adding it on to a routine spay or neuter procedure like one would supersize a meal from McDonalds.”
Five local veterinarians spoke to the council in favor of a ban.
“I do not think it should be done at all,” Dr. Kenneth Jones said. “I feel it’s an amputation of the toes. And I think that verges on mistreatment, which then verges on abuse.”
