September 12, 2006

310 795-6215 or 877 PAW-PROJECT

Contact: Jennifer Conrad, DVM

Declawing Banned nationwide under Animal Welfare act

LOS ANGELES, September 12 – Declawing captive wild or exotic animals such as lions, tigers, wolves and bears is no longer permitted under the federal Animal Welfare Act. In the recently announced policy decision of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency has declared that declawing, the amputation of the claw-forming bone of an animal's foot, cannot be performed with the intent of making the animal easier to handle. According to the USDA, declawing is "no longer considered to be acceptable when performed solely for handling or husbandry purposes since (declawing) can cause considerable pain and discomfort to the animal and may result in chronic health problems." Defanging, or the removal of canine teeth, from these animals and from primates, such as monkeys and apes, has also been banned.

"This policy change is the culmination of efforts by many animal advocates within and outside the USDA," stated Dr. Jennifer Conrad, director of the Paw Project and exotic animal veterinarian. "It will spare captive animals the crippling pain and misery caused by declawing."

The new policy applies to animals held by USDA license holders including exhibitors, dealers and breeders of wild and exotic animals, as well as research facilities. This decision is estimated to affect thousands of animals. Though the new policy does not affect animals previously altered by these methods, it will protect all animals that have not had these procedures already performed.

Continued routine use of these procedures may subject USDA license holders to citation for noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act and may result in a fine or license revocation.

The crippling effects of declawing were first presented in a scientific paper by Dr. Jennifer Conrad at the 2002 conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. An attendee of the conference, Dr. Timothy Reichard, then a veterinarian at the Toledo Zoo, expressed interest in Dr. Conrad’s findings. Armed with her data, Dr. Reichard authored the 2004 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) animal welfare position paper which opposes declawing big cats and which is the basis for the new USDA policy. 

USDA Big Cat Specialist, Dr. Laurie Gage has written that "declawing big cats, especially the larger species, is inhumane" and that "depriving them of their claws because they have an owner who has no idea of how to handle or manage them seems unjustified."

The declawing of wild and exotic cats is already illegal in California as the result of AB 1857, the Paw Project-sponsored bill, which was authored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2004. Declawing is classified as "mutilation" by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British counterpart of the AVMA.

Currently there are more than 100 big cat sanctuaries in 41 states caring for thousands of declawed cats. Since 2000, veterinarians working with the Paw Project have performed reparative surgery on over fifty lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, and jaguars that had been victims of declaw surgery. The surgery cannot replace the missing claws, but can lessen many of the crippling effects of declawing.

"This is a major victory for the animals and those who care about them," said Conrad.

For more information, please contact Paw Project director Dr. Jennifer Conrad at 310-795-6215 or info@pawproject.org