Shannon Bill Would Protect Cats from Intrusive Procedure

• According to a 2018 survey, there are an estimated 94 million pet cats in the United States.
• Studies show that an estimated 20 percent of household cats are declawed – believed to be much higher due to underreporting.
• Cat declaw bans already exist in New York, Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, 7 of 10 Canadian Provinces and most member states of the European Union.

LANSING, Mich., Feb. 20, 2020, — State Rep. Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) introduced House Bill 5508 today to ban the practice of cat declawing in Michigan. It is estimated that somewhere from 20 to 25 percent of all household cats in the U.S. are declawed, but experts believe the actual number to be higher than reported.

Declawing cats through a phalengectomy, the procedure to completely amputate the last bone in each toe of the cat — which on a human would be the equivalent of removing the last knuckle from each of your fingers — is far more intrusive and harmful than some people may realize.

“Owning a pet is a big decision but abusing an animal and causing them long-term persistent pain to make caring for them easier for the pet owner is unacceptable,” said Shannon. “I want to encourage responsible and ethical pet ownership with this bill.”

Michigan would join New York as the only states in the U.S. to ban cat declawing, also joining Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, 7 of 10 Canadian Provinces and most member states of the European Union. The bill was referred to the House Agriculture Committee for consideration.

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