Henry County Humane Society/Kewanee Animal Shelter Board President Louise Harrison has been advocating for a state ban on cat declawing. The legislation banning the procedure is now under consideration in the Illinois Senate and could soon become law. [Photo by Susan DeVilder]
HB 1533, a law that would ban the surgical claw removal of cats, is under consideration by the state senate, and the board president of the Henry County Humane Society-Kewanee Animal Shelter is both optimistic and relieved.
Louise Harrision became involved in the Humane Society/Kewanee Animal Shelter in 2014 after her children started volunteering there. A few years later, the HCHS went through a reorganization and Harrison stepped in to become president.
Harrison is from South Africa and is the first to admit she wasn’t always knowledgeable about the operation routinely performed in the US on domesticated cats. In fact, before migrating to this country in 2012, Harrison had never encountered such a thing.
“It was here in the USA that I first heard about the declawing of cats; I was intrigued enough to ask – what is that? Why on earth would one do that? I thought it was peculiar that one would want to declaw a beloved pet, but I thought, well, I’m in a new country, a new culture, where things are done differently, and maybe there’s a good reason for doing it.”
In South Africa where Harrison worked in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, declawing has been against the law for many years, and it wasn’t something that was known or even talked about, she said. More specifically, Harrison had no idea that declawing involved actual amputation of the last joint of the cat’s toes.
“At the time, I didn’t know much about cat biology, and just assumed that declawing was as simple as when a human has an ingrown toenail removed. That’s no big deal, right?” Harrison said. “Ignorance is indeed bliss.”
She was also unaware that declawing is banned in most developed countries, except the US. Only two states, Maryland and New York, ban the procedure.
“The more I read about it and learned about the possible long-term effects, the more mortified I became,” she said.
Another procedure routinely performed on cats, flexor tendonectomy, involves surgical removal of a small portion of the tendon in each toe to prevent a cat from extending or controlling its claws. The procedure makes it so cats can no longer climb, scratch or use its claws, she said.
“Research has shown that cats who had a flexor tendonectomy have similar complications to cats that have been declawed,” said Harrison. “I spoke to numerous vets about these procedures to get a proper understanding of it and to confirm the accuracy of my own research. I was actually embarrassed about my ignorance.”
Harrison said the truth is that declawing cats can lead to many lifelong problems, physically and emotionally.
“I felt so strongly about this that in 2017, I started petitioning numerous state senators to outlaw the declawing and flexor tendonectomy. It became my dream to help to get a state ban in place.”
While advocating for the ban, Harrison soon learned that she was “not a lone voice in the wilderness” when she came across “The Paw Project,” an organization she describes as impressive.
“They have also been working hard at educating the public and at petitioning states to change their laws,” she said. “I believe they have been instrumental in getting laws changed in a number of US states thus far. Of course, the aim is to get it banned in the whole of the US, an objective I support wholeheartedly.”
At the Henry County Humane Society – Kewanee Animal Shelter, they actively educate adopters that declawing is cruel and unnecessary.
“Scratching is a behavioral issue that does not need to be ‘solved’ by a debilitating surgery,” said Harrison.
The HCHS-Kewanee Animal Shelter, also educates adopters about ways to teach their cats to scratch in the right places like scratching posts and scratching pads. With a little effort, every cat can be taught where to scratch, said Harrison.
Harrison said she has found that after providing cat owners the information about the procedure, many decide against the surgery.
“I haven’t met many cat lovers who, after learning the facts, still want to mutilate their beloved cat’s healthy paws,” said Harrison.
Even when the vet uses the latest laser technology and performs the operation with no complications, the long-term outcome is still the same, she said.
“The cat’s toes have been amputated. It is cruel and inhumane. It is never in the cat’s best interests, unless it is done for health reasons.”
The Illinois HB 1533 legislation was initiated by the Illinois Humane Society. The legislation calls for penalties of up to $2,500 for multiple violations. First introduced in January of this year by Illinois state Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora), the legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Kelly Cassidy (D-Illinois) and Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook). The bill passed the Illinois House on March 16 and is currently under consideration in the Illinois Senate.
For more information about declawing, visit https://pawproject.org.
