In just the past month, three cities, including San Francisco, have approved bans on cat declawing and more are expected to follow including Berkeley, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

The California Veterinary Medical Association was a sponsor of Senate Bill 762, signed into law July 2, which gives the state authority over medical scope-of-practice issues and prevents cities and counties from passing ordinances banning medical procedures. The law goes into effect January 1, 2010.

In Sonoma County, no bans are proposed according to Amy Cooper, the director of Sonoma County Animal Care and Control. But Angela Bonnert of the Sonoma Humane Society says their agency “would support a ban on performing declaw surgery on cats. It is an inhumane procedure that is very painful and can cause long-term problems. We do not advocate the declawing of cat”

Declawing means the first knuckle of the cat’s paw is completely removed and along with it the nail foundation.

Tail docking or bobbing, the practice of cutting off tails of some breeds of dogs, and ear cropping, where the ears are cut and propped up, have been banned since early 2007 in the United Kingdom and most of the European countries.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, has said that they consider tail docking to be “an unjustified mutilation and unethical unless done for therapeutic or acceptable prophylactic reasons”.

There are a few exceptions in some countries but most ban the practices outright.

Does that decision interfere with the client/veterinarian relationship? Yes it does, but somehow they have figured out a greater good argument.

This goes beyond animal welfare groups to the very cities and counties that must deal with pet overpopulation. This is what has stymied efforts to approve a mandatory spay/neuter law in California. California shelters euthanize thousands of unwanted animals a year.

Perhaps a better approach might be to encourage the California Veterinary Medical Association to take more of a lead on this and advocate against medical procedures that have more to do with aesthetics than common sense. After January 1st, we must trust that good people can tell the difference.