Missouri is moving closer to passing a dangerous bill that would lead to cats being harmed and killed while overturning bans on cat declawing in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The bill, SB 115, has already passed the Missouri Senate. Alley Cat Allies is rallying advocates to act urgently to stop the bill in the Missouri House of Representatives.
SB 115 would not only overturn existing declawing bans in St. Louis and St. Louis County, it would prohibit other local governments in Missouri from outlawing cat declawing in their cities and counties. This is unacceptable and against the stated desire of the people of St. Louis and St. Louis County. There is no justification to remove Missouri citizens’ ability to improve the humane treatment of cats in their communities.
The fact is declaw surgery is far from a nail trim. It is the surgical amputation of the last joints of a cat’s toes that can have severe consequences for the cat. Without their claws, cats can’t perform many of their natural behaviors, can feel unsafe, and can experience issues with walking and balancing. The pain and discomfort caused by declaw surgery can lead to permanent physical and mental harm as well as behaviors like biting and litter box avoidance–both of which are primary reasons cats are relinquished to shelters.
In many of those shelters, cats–especially those deemed unadoptable due to behavior issues–will be killed.
Alley Cat Allies supports declawing bans that make exceptions for the very rare instances where declawing is medically necessary. But in the majority of cases, declawing is only done to protect furniture.
We must protect the ability of the people of Missouri to build more humane communities by taking steps to protect cats from declawing in the future. Alley Cat Allies will be following the situation through to the end and taking every possible measure to stop this cruel and unfair bill.