Declawing big cats could possibly be illegal across the U.S. after lawsuit - Sensationalist Headlines

It is now illegal in the U.S. to declaw big cats such as lions and tigers after a veterinarian at a southern Indiana facility reached a settlement last week with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. PETA sued Dr. Rick Pelphrey in September, alleging that he surgically declawed 12 big cats at Wildlife in Need, a nonprofit in Charlestown, Indiana, near Louisville. In the settlement, approved by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Pelphrey admits to performing the procedure and agrees to never again declaw a big cat. But more importantly, according to PETA, the settlement sets a legal precedent: Declawing exotic cats without medical necessity is a violation of the Endangered Species Act. "This should have been illegal under federal law before now, but unfortunately there often is lax enforcement of these things," said Brittany Peet, the director of captive animal law enforcement for PETA's Foundation. "So it falls to advocacy groups to be the ones to go in and try to make these things right in court." Indiana lawsuit makes it illegal across the U.S. to declaw big c..

PETA finally does something good. Declawing without medical necessity should be illegal across the board, it really screws up a cat's feet and long term health.

imagine having your fingers cut off at the joint, and then crawling around directly on the joints with half your entire weight

PETA are stupid fucks but I'll applaud even stupid fucks when they accomplish something objectively good. Well done, you stupid fucks, and I mean that. Now let's make it illegal to declaw all cats without a medical need.

It's illegal to declaw cats here y'all needa ketchup

I'm really surprised there hasn't been found a humane way of declawing a cat that doesn't fuck up their feet. Is there not a way of keeping their claws from being sharp? Or will cats just sharpen them again?

Claws grow you know

Never heard of this being a thing. I thought cat claws were retractable which would make clipping them difficult? Never owned a cat since I'm allergic.

Just use some nail clippers and clip a tiny bit off. Not too much, as it has veins, and clipping too far can damage the flesh. https://vetstreet-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/63/900e00040c11e28ae7005056ad4734/file/cat-claw-flickr-335sm092112.jpg https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/716/b2796034-8bce-483e-b838-a655f62d6f27/image.png Clawing things is essentially one of their BIGGEST destressers. Without it, they become very agitated. And many cat owners respond with discipline when they don't realize that they're just shitty people when it comes to cats.

No, the roots that they grow from in most mammals are designed to handle the complete loss of the claw/nail and regrow overtime, that's partially why a person's body will voluntarily drop a nail off if it is badly damaged, rather than keep it there and risk infection or malformation. You have to go pretty far back into the digit to purge the roots, and in carnivorian claws, they attach to nearly the whole first section in many lineages: https://cdn.britannica.com/s:700x450/56/93056-004-C6DF52F7.jpg http://www.knowyourbody.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Nail-Matrix-Picture.jpg

Good, fuck declawing cats in general, fuck your expensive ass leather sofa's, a living being is more important.

When I read the reasons people have to cut them off they are ridiculous and selfish. Many resorts to chopping them of as a precautionary measure, not liking the sound when they walk, avoid dealing with scratches, or an excuse related to "dewclaws doesn't even have a purpose, so does the other claws." It is irritationg to imagine how some people think an animal have to be physically altered to fit your point of view. Hopefully this nudges them enough to debate about declawing in general while they are at it. Excepting medical condition it should get the same law for any situation and domestic animals have to deal with the same logic and consequences.

I'll never understand people who declaw their cats, that's almost like getting a dog and not allowing them to bark or lick ever. Just make sure you have several scratching poles/matts where they can scratch on and if they do scratch furniture, teach them to not do that. It's not impossible to teach a cat things. I've had several cats and still have and never had the problem of a cat scratching furniture.

I recently adopted a kitten and definitely do not have any plans to declaw her. She loves being able to climb. It would be heart breaking to see her lose that. My parents have a declawed 13 year old cat and I wonder why she is so bipolar is because she is declawed. She is loving one second and turns into a total bitch 3 seconds later.

My sister rode down a slide with our cat when she was 6 and it attached itself to her face. She came into the house screaming her head off and she was rushed to the emergency room. 18 stitches, and it almost took her eye out. My parents then had the cat declawed. The cat is still alright, just doesn't have claws.

This should be illegal for cats as a whole, not just big cats.

Declawing cats, removing dog's vocal chords and clipping bird wings.

I did not know this was a thing what the fuck

Removing vocal chords, you fucking what

There are owners that would rather be cunts than to actually properly train their dogs the biggest thing I hate about yard-dogs is dog owners. Outside of the smaller imbred dogs being worthless and never shutting the fuck up, their braindead owners neglect them and never train them properly and would rather just yell at their fucking dog than actually train them. Not only that but a lot of these people contribute to the issue of imbred dogs. Some of these animals can't even fucking breath correctly.

It's called debarking.

People are willing to remove dogs vocal chords, but don't want to get their dogs neutered/spayed because they think it's cruel. Even if it actually prevents cancer.

I already know this is unpopular, but my cat is declawed. He was like that when we got him. I could not have him if he wasn't declawed. After he's dead, I'm going to hunt for an older, already de-clawed cat so I can reap the benefits of having a no clawed cat without the "guilt" behind being the one who de-clawed them.

Don't delude yourself, you're just as responsible for that shit. Your "benefits" are just you trading off your cat's comfort and health for your own fucking convenience, and it's obvious that you don't actually care about him if you're already making plans to just replace him like an object when he's gone.

Lol what? I love my cat. So much so, that I want another one once he is dead. It's very likely he'll die before me and I've already accepted that. I already have plans to buy an urn for him so that he can be with me forever, symbolically. That cat is what I look forward to seeing after working out of town all week. I did not declaw my cat. Someone else did. If anything, I'm giving him a better life than being killed in a shelter.

I feel like you should be getting a cat as a companion rather than a replacement. Each one is going to have different behaviours, activity levels, and personalities. All room for making new memories rather than trying to replace old ones.

It wouldn't be a replacement, it would be a different cat. There is no replacement for my current cat. My posts make me sound more robotic than I am, it isn't as if I'd go get a new cat on my way back from the crematorium. I really don't know how I'm going to react when my current cat dies, I was already tearing up when I was looking up urns for him.

Animals aren't a fucking collector's item, dude.

They would obviously represent all my beloved animals I've had throughout my life. Otherwise, they're just meaningless ashes. It would defeat the purpose of keeping an urn in memory if I didn't give a shit about them.

Ah sorry bout that, I guess I might've just misinterpreted what you were saying. Its kinda hard to convey emotion over text. I don't particularly agree that getting one that's already declawed would necessarily be a bad thing, just as long as give lots of love to your fuzzy friend.