Reply #12: This has been one of the most divisive topics

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in animal welfare for a very long time. I come out on the side of NO declawing personally, and I think it's one of the most horrific things someone can do to a cat.

However, as an animal rights activist, I realise and know that some people will never adopt a cat with claws, simply because of the old wives' tales about them scratching furniture or anything else that might be considered "precious" in the house. As a result, there are and would continue to be, too many felines that would never get adopted and that would be put down as a result.

So where do you start? Perhaps the solution is teaching prospective adopters that claws don't need to be removed in order to make a cat from scratching household items. Training them right from the start to use a scratching post, using pedi-paws, or one of the many nail "caps" out there are pretty good hedges against cats ruining things.

And yes, that means that education needs to be done in any city or town that makes declawing prohibited. A certain portion of adoption fees should be used to teach people exactly why declawing is so awful. Not only must you then make sure no declawed cat is allowed outdoors, but also showing that a declawed cat has no way of defending themselves if they do manage to escape.

I'm glad to hear of these declawing bans, but it really needs to go much further in making people understand WHY this is so.