SPCA launches petition to ban declawing cats in Quebec

The Montreal SPCA is inviting the public to sign its online petition to ban the declawing of cats.

The petition will then be presented to the Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec (OMVQ) in the hopes of enforcing the ban throughout the province.

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The online petition was launched on Tuesday and has already received more than 9,800 votes, with a total goal set at 25,000.

“Already, more than thirty countries and jurisdictions around the world no longer allow this practice, which many consider cruel and unjustifiable,” reads the SPCA website. “In 2018, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island have all banned the surgery, and other provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick will be doing so shortly. Will Quebec join the movement?”

The SPCA provided an infographic to illustrate that declawing cats would be akin to amputating the last knuckle from a human hand.

SPCA

“The term “declawing” is misleading because the surgery in question consists in completely amputating of the third phalanx of each of a cat’s toes,” warns the SPCA. “It would be the equivalent, for a human, of having the last knuckle removed from all ten fingertips!”

The OMVQ responded in a statement, saying that declawing cats is not medically necessary and that it can lead to complications, infections and can affect a feline’s overall wellbeing.