Protect the paws: RI Senate votes to ban the declawing of cats. Here's what to know.
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island lawmakers took a pause from their regular programming Tuesday to deal with paws.
Literally.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 28 to 4 to ban the declawing of cats. On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to vote on a long and lawyerly bill governing pet insurance.
And yes, the legislators are just back from spring break and voting on non-controversial bills. They have not yet reached the point in every legislative session where deals are made on more contentious bills, the horse trading begins and legislative budget-writers wrap their brains around how much money is actually available to deal with a mountain of needs.
$1,000 fine for declawing a cat
The cat bill bans the surgical removal of a cat's claws, or the procedure known as a "tendonectomy" in which the tendons to a cat's limbs, paws, or toes are cut or modified to impair their "normal functioning" of the claws.
Once popular among cat owners who might love their pets but not the damage their scratching does to chairs and couches, declawing has long been frowned upon.
The bill the Senate approved – for the second year in a row – would make declawing illegal and impose a $1,000 fine on anyone who performs such a procedure, except for a "therapeutic purpose," such as to remove an infection that compromises the cat's health.
Several animal-rights activists and groups have applauded the bill sponsored by Sen. Melissa Murray, D-Woonsocket, including:
The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association: "Declawing is a painful, invasive surgery – a series of 10-18 separate amputations of the last bones of a cat's toes." Complications from declawing, like an increased likelihood to bite and avoid the litterbox as some of the primary reasons why cats are brought to shelters, "where many face euthanasia."
Anna-Marie Corvin, as head of the Warwick Animal Shelter, wrote: "The bottom line is if someone wants a cat that doesn't scratch then they shouldn't get a cat since cats all have a need to scratch, just like if they didn't want a dog to bark then they shouldn't get a dog."
Who opposes the law to ban cat declawing?
Perhaps unexpectedly, the only letter of opposition to the bill came from the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association on grounds that it "attempts to supersede the authority of the Board of Veterinary Medicine," creates regulations redundant to and outside of the parameters of the veterinary practice laws" and gives public officials oversight of veterinarians.
The four nay votes were cast by four of the five Senate Republicans. The fifth was recorded as not voting.
In 2019 the nation's first bill to prohibit convenience declawing statewide was signed into law in New York. Maryland followed. Passage through the House would make Rhode Island the third state, according to the testimony.
Pet-insurance reform bill also on the docket
The push for a pet insurance bill came from the local advoacy group "Defenders of Animals."
The group's director, Dennis Tabella, told legislators "confused consumers ... often struggle to navigate through the patchwork of pet-insurance rules and protections."
An "understandable language" on coverage limits, waiting periods and deductibles is necessary, he said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI is one step closer to making it illegal to declaw cats
