Re: the Feb. 10 article "House committee votes to ban declawing of cats."
As a former veterinary technician, I was required to assist with numerous declaw surgeries and patient aftercare. I routinely witnessed horribly traumatic patient recoveries and frequent postsurgical complications, including infections (one so serious that it necessitated amputation of the entire paw), chronic pain and lameness, depression, and behavioral changes including aggression and inappropriate urination, which resulted in destruction of the human-animal bond and relinquishment of the pet. I was prohibited from discussing the risks of declawing and the more humane alternatives with clients, and this is the reason I left the veterinary profession. Declawing has no place in modern veterinary medicine or in a civilized society. Much of the world outside the U.S. already recognizes it as animal cruelty and prohibits it. In US cities which have banned declawing, shelter intake statistics show that the bans have NOT resulted in an increase in cats being relinquished to shelters. Veterinarians who endorse this barbaric procedure should not be trusted to have their patients' best interests at heart.
Lorelei Hickman
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
