Cats in Rhode Island have something to meow about this week! As of Sept. 1, it is illegal to declaw cats unless it is necessary for the cat’s health, such as removing a cancerous growth. The bill was passed by lawmakers on June 18.

Declawing a cat is a far cry from a mani-pedi. It’s a brutal surgical procedure—an amputation— that removes individual toe bones from the animal’s paws.

Friends of Animals has been educating the public about how declawing is a painful and unnecessary surgical procedure for decades. We forbid the procedure to be performed when people purchase a low-cost spay/neuter certificate from FoA. Declawing means far more than leaving your pet defenseless against an attack if it gets outdoors. It means:

●The severing of ligaments and tendons that bring pain

●The creating of an imbalance that could lead to injury

●A change in personality or temperament

FoA recommends regularly trimming cats’ nails and giving them their own “furniture” to scratch on, such as sisal scratching post or a board covered with a carpet remnant.

To educate your own community about this issue, you can purchase a bundle of 50 of our “Paws Come with Claws” brochure for $4 at friendsofanimals.org.

Before Rhode Island, Massachusetts passed similar legislation just last year and New York and Maryland have banned the procedure, as well as jurisdictions including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Madison, West Hollywood, Austin, Denver, Beverly Hills, Berkeley, and Washington, D.C. Virginia has also banned the procedure with limited exemptions.