New Brunswick may be the next province in the country to ban the declawing of cats.
The New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association has called a special meeting to vote on the matter this spring.
Dr. Liane Nelson is a vet in Moncton and a member of the association. She says that five other provinces have already moved to ban the controversial procedure, which many vets are now saying is completely unnecessary.
“It’s a movement that is spreading across the country. It’s becoming more of an animal welfare consideration,” she said.
Nelson says the roughly 120 vets across the province will vote in April whether or not to amend the bylaw and ban the declawing of cat among its members.
“We are looking at this surgery as being more cosmetic at this point rather than being of any benefit to the cat,” she said.
Nova Scotia was the first to ban the procedure and Alberta vets moved to do the same just this week.
WATCH: Halifax vets call for ban on ‘outdated, unnecessary’ declawing
Nelson says it’s becoming a common consensus among many vets across the country that there is no proven benefit to declawing cats.
“The surgery itself involves the removal of the entire first digit of the cat. It is not just simply removing the toenail like a lot of cat owners believe. It is an amputation of the entire first digit,” she said.
She says doing so prevents them from expressing a natural behaviour and the invasive surgery is painful and can lead to complications.
“If you think about it on yourself, it would be like removing everything on your hand from the tip of your finger back to your first joint,” she said.
Dave Rogers with the Moncton SPCA applauds the move, saying declawing may benefit the cat owner but he thinks the procedure is cruel.
“I would like to see all provinces get on board with the ban of declawing cats. There is no reason to be declawing cats,” he said.
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