Bills would outlaw declawing cats in R.I. and Mass.

Senator Melissa A. Murray, a Woonsocket Democrat, introduced a cat declawing bill that the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee voted in favor of on Wednesday. The bill is expected to come to the Senate floor next week.

“Most vets don’t declaw, but unfortunately there are some that still do,” Murray said. “People don’t understand declawing is not just a simple permanent nail trim. It’s like removing the tips of your fingers up to the first knuckle.”

Declawing provides no benefit for the cat’s health and wellbeing, she said, and there are alternatives such as regular nail trims, placing plastic caps on the cat’s claws, or putting scratching posts in areas where cats might claw furniture.

Murray said she became interested in the issue three years ago, at Christmastime, when she adopted a kitten named Marcel Noel. She said she began trimming the cat’s claws early on, and Marcel Noel does not ruin her furniture.

But, Murray said, “Honestly, if you are more concerned about your furniture than your pet, then don’t get a cat.”

Representative William W. O’Brien, a North Providence Democrat, has introduced a companion bill that was recently heard in the House Judiciary Committee.

If the legislation passes, Rhode Island and Massachusetts would join New York and Maryland as the first states to ban the declawing of cats. Declawing has been prohibited in nearly 40 other countries — where cats tend to spend more time outdoors — and in 13 US cities, including Los Angeles, Denver, and Pittsburgh, advocates said.

The Rhode Island legislation has received support from groups such as the Animal Legal Defense Legislative Fund.

“The supposed convenience of stopping a cat’s natural behavior of scratching is actually a highly invasive surgical procedure than can cause cat’s a lifetime of pain and discomfort as well as lead to behavioral issues such as biting,” the fund’s Stephanie J. Harris wrote to legislators. “We urge the advancement of legislation to protect cats from declawing, a cruel and outdated practice that is unnecessary except in rare cases to protect a cat’s health.”

But the legislation is facing opposition from the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, which says the bills are “clearly redundant to the State of Rhode Island’s veterinary practice laws.”

In a letter from Leonard Lopes, the association said it believes declawing should be performed only by a licensed veterinarian as a final alternative to euthanasia, after trying all medicines and behavioral changes and trying to find another home for the cat. Veterinarians have an obligation to educate clients on alternatives and potential complications, the association said.

“Although any procedure can have complications, claims that declawing causes permanent intractable pain in cats are untrue,” the association stated. “If it were true, veterinarians would never do them.”

The association believes the proposed legislation would set a bad precedent by “creating regulations redundant to and outside of the parameters of the veterinary practice laws and requiring oversight of veterinarians by public officials other than the Board of Veterinary Medicine.”

In response, Murray said, “We make laws regarding human medical doctors all the time.”

In Virginia, a bill to outlaw cat declawing failed last year after that state’s Veterinary Medical Association opposed it. The Virginia opponents said veterinarians often are asked to declaw a cat “because of the medical needs of the owner,” citing two HIV-positive clients who wanted to minimize their risk of bleeding from cat scratches. They asked lawmakers to trust veterinarians to “do the right thing.”

In Massachusetts, the Senate voted in January for a bill to prohibit “inhumane” declawing of cats, and it was sent to the House.

In Rhode Island, the Senate passed a declawing bill last year, but it went nowhere in the House. “I’m hoping that this is the year,” Murray said.

The Rhode Island legislation would make it unlawful “perform surgical claw removal, declawing, or a tendonectomy” on cats, while allowing procedures “performed solely for a therapeutic purpose.” Therapeutic purposes would included procedures needed to address illness, injury, or abnormal conditions, but they would not include procedures for cosmetic purposes or “to make the cat more convenient to keep or handle.”

Anyone found guilty of violating the law would face a fine of up to $1,000.

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association is backing the bill.

“Declawing is a painful, invasive surgery — a series of 10 to 18 separate amputations of the last bones of a cat’s toes,” the association’s Barbara Hodges wrote. “Contrary to widely held belief, declawing is not simply removal of nails. It is typically performed for convenience and to avoid possible damage to household items. However, declawing exposes the patient to risks of anesthesia, infection, and blood loss as well as chronic pain, nerve damage and lameness.”

The association emphasized that it’s normal for cats to scratch.

“It removes dead husks from cats’ claws, marks territory, and stretches muscles,” Hodges wrote. “Sensible alternatives include well-selected scratching posts, alternative furniture selection or placement, nail trims, training, and nail caps.”

Dennis Tabella, director of the Defenders of Animals Inc., is also supporting the bill. “Declawing a cat removes their natural ability to climb, jump, fight, and ultimately, protect themselves,” he wrote, suggesting alternatives such as applying a synthetic pheromone spray on objects that your cat likes to scratch.

“Cats are natural hunters and explorers,” Tabella wrote. “When we make them indoor pets, they can experience stress if not provided with an enriched environment full of outlets for their inquisitive, playful energy. An enriched environment includes providing things like scratching surfaces, toys, cat trees, and more.”

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Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.