New Hampshire could become the next state in the nation to ban the harmful and traumatic practice of cat declawing! Alley Cat Allies is testifying in support of a declaw ban bill, HB 231, and rallying residents of New Hampshire to join us. If the bill passes, New Hampshire could become the third state in the United States to officially outlaw declawing statewide.
If this declaw ban bill passes in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, it will move to the New Hampshire Senate and closer to becoming law.
Alley Cat Allies has advocated for formal bans of cat declawing since our founding in 1990, and today, awareness of the reality behind declaw surgery has grown among the public, and a growing number of veterinary professionals and animal authorities are enacting policies against it. Formalizing declawing bans in law is the most critical step to ensure cats and kittens no longer endure physical and mental harm from declaw procedures.
Because declaw surgery is not a nail trim, but a 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, and lead to behaviors that cause cats to be relinquished to shelters.
Most formalized declawing bans include exemptions for declawing procedures performed in rare cases of necessity, like traumatic injury or infection. But in almost all cases, declawing is entirely nontherapeutic, meaning it has no medical benefit to the cat.
New York, Maryland and 16 major cities in the United States have already banned declawing to protect the wellbeing of cats. This is our chance to ensure New Hampshire joins them.
Learn more about the facts of cat declawing.
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