Anti-cat declawing bill in California advances

California considers law that would ban cat declawing

California is one step closer to banning a practice animal lovers call cruel and unnecessary. Assemblyman Alex Lee joined us on 'The Nine' to discuss the legislation he introduced that would prohibit cat declawing.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A California legislator is trying to ban a practice performed on cats that he and other advocates call "cruel" and "outdated."

Assembly Bill 867 was introduced by Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-Milpitas), and would ban what’s known as cat declawing. The process involves amputating the first knuckle of a cat’s toes and can lead to debilitating health issues.

"More often, we see people amputating their cat’s fingers just for convenience of scratching on the furniture or themselves," Lee told KTVU. "The surgery of cat declawing is super painful and very intrusive and can leave you basically walking on your knuckles if you were thinking about it as a person."

Several organizations oppose cat declawing, including the ASPCA. The organization says following the procedure, cats can see a variety of complications, including infections, excessive bleeding and nerve damage.

"I think the time is now cat owners, cat parents and veterinarians are aware of how cruel and barbaric this practice is," said Lee.

There are critics of the bill.

The California Veterinary Medical Association opposes the legislation. 

In a formal opposition, the association said it is "deeply concerned that the veterinary profession is being singled out among our fellow healing arts professionals with legislation proposing to ban specific medical and surgical procedures in statute, which is a dangerous precedent."

AB 867 recently passed the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, and now heads to the Senate Floor.

Cat declawing is banned in eight cities in California, including San Francisco, Berkeley and Los Angeles. 

On a national level, the practice is banned in New York, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Massachusetts. 

Similar versions of this bill have been floated in California a handful of times in the past and none have yet to pass.