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City News

Cat Declawing: Los Angeles City Council Tackles Monumental Issue, Sets Tone For Rest Of Century

By Dennis Romero, Wednesday, Nov. 18 2009 @ 10:52AM
Comments (45)
Categories: community, politics
You gotta give it to the Los Angeles City Council. It's a real go-getter of a group, ever progressive in its drive to make the city a better place.

It has deliberated and debated for more than a year on regulating the 800 or so pot dispensaries in town for our own good -- to make sure that these retail drug dealers, which every government lawyer from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to Attorney General Jerry Brown has indicated are essentially illegal, can supply us with that "purple" at a fair price. (Who cares if there's one in your neighborhood, with school children walking by it each day? The council wants to get this right). And while potholes fester, water-system pipes burst and the fire department runs with intermittent station closings as a result of a tight budget, the council treks off to San Antonio to schmooze with lobbyists at the League of Cities convention. It's a learning experience that will benefit us all, we're sure. Fresh from this junket -- er, meeting -- the council has wrassled a complex issue that will shape this city for decades to come (read more after the jump):
cats.jpg
​


Cat declawing! That's right folks. We knew it was at the top of your list too. The council unanimously approved this historic measure to ensure that the felines of Angel City get a proper mani-pedi. (Take a bow you guys).

"We need to ban declawing, which is one of the most cruel practices," Councilman Paul Koretz, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said. "The obvious truth is that declawing does nothing good for cats."

Obviously. Just the other day we were thinking about this: What about the cats? I mean sure, we have bills to pay and more than one out of every 10 people is without a job in this nation, but for realz -- it's about the kitties. Of course, we'll have to wait a little longer to have a firefighter or paramedic show up as our homes burn and as we take our last breaths, but as long as Fluffy has good scratchers, we're cool with it.

Tags:

Carmen Trutanich, cat declawing, cats, city issues, felines, infrastructure, junkets, League of Cities, Los Angeles City Council, medical marijuana, pot dispensaries, pot shops, potholes, sinkholes, voters
Comments (45) Write Comment
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  • Los Angeles City Council
  • Jerry Brown
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Comments (45)

Spc says:

So...what are you saying? City council should have spent more time on this cat issue? That the laws governing medical marijuana are so simple we can sign-off and move on? City council in Los Angeles is ineffective and a waste of time? I don't get this article.

Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 18 2009 @ 3:52PM
ERey says:

I don't get it, either. Anyway, good on the LA City Council for banning cat declawing. This is a huge step toward stamping on this abusive practice nationwide. F--- you, greedy vets!

Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 18 2009 @ 4:04PM
alexboy says:

I don't get it. Driving a car and playing a fun game for iphone - roadslot. How they made it?

Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 19 2009 @ 3:12AM
toomany2choose says:

Is this supposed to be funny? Acerbic? It's not. I say Kudo's to the council for banning a cruel procedure.

Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 19 2009 @ 11:18AM
Mark from Torrance, CA says:

IMHO Dennis Romero is an idiot.
Hey Dennis, imagine what it would be like to recover from someone removing your fingernails and just because they didnt want you clawing their furniture or curtains.
what an Asshole!

Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 19 2009 @ 3:48PM
Ron Mexico says:

"Who cares if there's one in your neighborhood, with school children walking by it each day?"

No one, and neither should you. In fact, you should encourage your children to start smoking at around age 15. Their lives will be vastly improved. Unlike yours, someone who's sitting here blogging abouts cats being declawed like a tool.

And you obviously don't know shit about the situation, because if you did you'd realize this is just another way for the government to put its nose in people's private affairs and impose fines, and they love doing both of those things.

It has nothing to do with cats.

In summary... you're a homo.

Love,
Ron Mexico

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:19AM
Sam says:

There is a reason LA is a big toilet bowl. Not the people, but the city. Try to group a large amount of people with a crappy governing body, and this is what happens.


And BTW, most of what you hear about declawing is not proven fact, just some hippy's opinion. Is trimming their 'finger' painful? maybe for a week or two, but if it means that more cats will be adopted, then maybe it's worth it.

Letting your cats roam outside with other wild animals, fast vehicles, and abusive kids is way more cruel than declawing.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:22AM
Tainted Knutt says:

Crazy cat lady speaks out = http://cafedarkness.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/cat-scratch-fever

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:23AM
Lance says:

We bought a small cute cat a couple of years ago, and I never thought about declawing. It seems cruel. Then I noticed our couches were getting torn to shreds, and it was ether declawing or beheading. It's fine of house cats. If it goes outside once in a while, the vet says to leave the rear claws on so it can fight and better climb trees. Why the govt is involved in this though is a sign of the times. We're all doomed, but at least Californians well get theirs first.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:26AM
@dingus says:

That's the trouble with pets http://bit.ly/O8vF2

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:32AM
Aids says:

Dear Author,

You, Sir, are an idiot. It's not like kitties are getting funding that could otherwise be given to the fire department, just simply that it should be illegal to pull their claws out! And as for the demon weed, you seem to be clueless. Does walking past a shop make your kids HAVE to buy something? Perhaps we should ban all shop fronts.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:33AM
Jacob says:

Dennis Romero is a narrow minded moron..

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:38AM
Blargh says:

As someone who enjoys animal abuse, I'm appalled at the recent city council action.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:40AM
Corporate Slave says:

Declawing a cat is cruel and provides no benefit to the cat. Result: BANNED

Circumcising a child is cruel and provides no benefit to the child. Result: ENCOURAGED

(and don't give me that rhetoric about cleanliness, that's bull$#!+)

IMHO, declawing a cat as a kitten is just as harmful as circumcising a baby. Is it cruel? No. Declawing an adult cat is akin to circumcising an adult (without consent). Cruel? Yes.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:52AM
Scott Mason says:

I wish my city would debate and pass this same rule.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:56AM
YourFace says:

It's not a matter of the cats getting a "mani/pedi", as you say. Declawing has considerable negative impacts on the health of cats.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:57AM
Stephen says:

Declawing is a cruel thing to do to a cat, but it is less cruel than having to euthanize it or even to have to put it up for adoption with the risk of it being euthanized...

Cats are not easy to train or to correct bad behaviour. If the can is a loved member of a family, but has a bad clawing habit that the family can not fix, I would rather the cat be de-clawed than either euthanized or put out of its home.

A de-clawed cat can still live a happy and full life. (having a cat's teeth removed is also traumatic, but not a hindrance to a happy life)

We don't get bent out of shape about spaying/neutering.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 10:59AM
Franklin says:

To liken declawing to a "mani-pedi" clearly demonstrates your ignorance on the topic. In actuality, declawing means they completely remove the last knuckle of each digit on their paw.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:05AM
JUB BUB says:

I've had cats my entire life, and every single one of them had their front claws removed. My current two cats are 15 and 10, respectively, and they have had no front claws since they were kittens.

Get over yourselves, geez.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:13AM
Me says:

Declawing Cats does nothing for the cats? How bout it makes it so someone will keep the cat?

My previous 2 cats had claws and they cost me several thousand dollars in damage to furniture and clothes. After that I vowed that I would not own a cat with claws again, I'd rather go without.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:18AM
SeanG says:

This _is_ an important issue. Declawing is animal cruelty, plain and simple.

People love to take pets for granted; I'm glad someone is standing up for them.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:22AM
Paul from Pedro says:

What a stupid article. Dennis Romero is a total tool.

"(Who cares if there's one in your neighborhood, with school children walking by it each day?"

O NOES!! You mean kids are walking past nondescript buildings that may or may not contain a harmless medicine?!?! Pretty soon you'll tell me they also walk by liquor stores that are frequented by junkies and panhandlers!

Also, Dennis, please refer to the MLA handbook you got in college (assuming you went to college) and look up the proper use for parentheses.

Someone should "definger" Dennis Romero so he never writes a stupid article like this again.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:22AM
Liam says:

Declawing is the equivalent to cutting your fingers off at the first knuckle. You don't just remove the nail, it would grow back. They take the whole fingertip.

Like franklin said, "To liken declawing to a "mani-pedi" clearly demonstrates your ignorance"

oh yeah... Eric Holder just announced that the federal government is not going to go after medical marijuana dispensaries or patients. That quote from Jerry Brown is old and does not reflect the change in drug policy by the feds.

So do your homework Romero. It is not essentially illegal anymore. It is legal in the state of California. The feds say they won't interfere. If you don't like it Romero, go live in Utah.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:22AM
D says:

I am a vet student and i personally would never declaw my cat because it is cruel. But if it means that a cat gets adopted / not abandoned i would do the declaw procedure. We have an overpopulation problem so if declawing means more cats have homes i am for it.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:33AM
John Davis says:

No way dude thats totally crazy

RT
www.ultimate-privacy.br.tc

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:42AM
addy says:

Silly article. It was a good measure. The fact that other issues are not being fixed quickly enough does not in anyway translate to this being a bad decision or a waste of time. It's the equivalent of saying with all the deadly diseases out there nyquil is wasting its time selling cough medicine! The nerve!

Its not an either or situation no matter how hard this article tries to paint it as such.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:45AM
cidknee says:

This article was lame. Cat claws are less important than marijuana legalities so they shouldn't be addressed? Then nothing in the whole world should be done until we cure every incurable and fatal disease. It makes no sense. Just because you're in a pissy mood doesn't mean the issue is a joke.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:48AM
Broomstick says:

People who get their cats declawed, should have their fingers cut off.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 11:49AM
Pseudothink says:

Not that this article is particularly concerned about cats or cat declawing, but here's some info about it:

"Declawing" makes it sound deceptively gentle. Calling it "deknuckling" would be more accurate, as the procedure involves amputating the last joint of each toe, akin to removing the last joint of each finger on a human. It takes a significant amount of time to recover from the surgery, and makes using the litter box painful. This can cause declawed cats to stop using their litter box (how adoptable is a cat who won't use a litter box?). Declawing a cat also removes its first line of defense, which is particularly significant for outdoor cats. It removes their ability to "scratch" (as intended by the procedure), though it does not remove the cat's natural urge to do so. This can cause cats to become depressed or irritable, and may lead them to start biting (as a play mechanism, or an outlet).

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:16PM
Chris says:

Yes, I agree with broomstick. And what about neutering... jk.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:19PM
ItsCalledSarcasm says:

It's called sarcasm...

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:25PM
Ernest says:

the author is so hip to todays slang!
"but for realz" he even spelled it like Miley would, awww...
Dennis Romero, ur totes chill... brah.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:32PM
Ole says:

All of my cats for the past 30 years have been declawed (front) and have been a mix of indoor/outdoor cats. They all have lived/live long healthy lives. They are friendly inside, you can play with them a lot more, they don't get yelled at for destroying furniture or each other. They are happy. Get it done when they go in to get spayed or neutered at around 6 months and they won't even remember they had claws.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:36PM
NasserInASaucer says:

Cutting off animal's testicles=okay. Euthanasia=okay. Cutting off last digit of their paw=cruelty.

You take a child to have a tooth removed and he will be in pain for a few days, and hate you for a while, then forget about it and love you again. You can't explain your reasoning to a cat any more than a child. You just do it, and drug the crap out of them until they recover. See which changes your animal's personality more, neutering or declawing. Animals get depressed as hell when they can't bang.

Get over it.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:45PM
tim says:

I have to agree that this is a cruel practice and it should be limited, but not banned. I adopted a cat about a year ago and the 85 year old lady that I lived with was diabetic and on several occasions got scratches on her feet from the cat. For this reason I did have the cat declawed to prevent further complications and possibly amputation. I think for every issue there will always be at least one exception that will need to be evaluated on an individual basis.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 12:53PM
Crafty says:

Nice to hear about the declawing, but this blog writing is an imbecile.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 1:04PM
hate2beu says:

Well - if i lived there and had a cat - and it was my desire to have my cat declawed - i would flaunt the law - go out of town - get it done and then parade my newly declawed feline all over town.
Stuff that where the laws don't shine

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 1:48PM
Anonymous says:

What kind of shit article was this? I mean seriously no useful information was posted here, the writing sucked, article sucked I give this thing a 1 out of 10, completely useless.

To get back on topic cat declawing SHOULD be illegal because it makes them defenseless and more than likely will make the cat mean for the rest of it's life, I'm not a cat activist but wtf this article is fucking stupid.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 5:09PM
Steve Pherson says:

I agree with the Anonymous poster above me, This article was pretty off topic and made no sense.

When I was a teenager I had a cat who was declawed, and she hated everyone but me, was the bitchiest cat I had ever seen. But guess what? She wasn't that when she *had* her claws. Anyone who has ever owned or loved a cat should respect the fact that CAT DECLAWING IS CRUEL AND MAKES YOU A FUCKING TARD OWNER.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 5:13PM
john feely says:

Marijuana is legal because this state voted for it. More marijuana the better. People use it for tons of purposes. Cat declawing is inhumane. You are a fucking RETARD FOR COMPARING THE TWO. What does weed and cats have in common. You fucking facist, go back to whatever ignorant country you came from.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 6:19PM
wtfman says:

For some reason i doubt preventing the declawing cats is mutually exclusive with fixing other problems.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 7:01PM
de marie says:

Well, to Dennis Romero, this may not be an issue, but no one is ripping your fingernails out of your hand, are they Dennis?

It's about time a moral stand was taken on this issue. It's medieval and horrific. As long as it's legal, vets will do it for money and people will think it's justifiable.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 8:50PM
Joe says:

For those of you whining about clawing up furniture...have you never heard of scratching posts? Cats take to them like they're...you know...scratching posts, you morons.

Posted On: Sunday, Nov. 22 2009 @ 9:48AM
phlox says:

I volunteer at a local animal shelter and most of the cats that are surrendered to the shelter with behavoir issues are declawed and the owners who are dumping them seem to always say that the cat was fine until after it was declawed. There are other methods of stopping your cat from scratching, such as buying a scratching post, or using a product called like soft paws, which are little soft plastic tips you can place on a cat's from paw nails which will make it impossible for them to scratch. Declawing is cruel, and maybe before anyone decides to get a pet, cat or other kind they may want to consider if they are willing to make the adjustments that go along with it.

Posted On: Sunday, Nov. 22 2009 @ 8:56PM
barbara says:

Well done LA City council, I was very glad to read that declawing will be banned and I hope it encourages other cities and other states to also ban it, declawing is cruel and unnecessary and it's banned in 38 other countries. I don't get your attitude at all, you flipantly suggest that declawing cats is just a glorified manicure whereas it is the amputation of the toe ends as the claws grow from the bone. I'm quite certain that LA city council can think of more than one thing at a time and taking time to be compassionate about animal welfare does not mean they cannot deal with your drug or water issues.
Here's a petition to the AVMA to ban declawing all across the USA
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=4312

Posted On: Monday, Nov. 30 2009 @ 8:53AM

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