Florida senator files bill that would ban declawing cats
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (NSF) - Declawing cats, unless medically necessary, would be banned in Florida under a bill proposed for the 2020 legislative session by Sen. Lauren Book.
The Plantation Democrat's measure (SB 48) mirrors a plan recently enacted in New York.
The New York law, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on July 22, imposes a $1,000 fine on veterinarians that perform the procedure.
Under Book’s proposal, Florida veterinarians that declaw cats unless it's medically necessary would face a $1,000 fine and be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Veterinary Medicine.
The legislation includes exceptions for "recurring illness, infection, disease, injury or abnormal condition" which compromises a cat's health.
In New York, the law was backed by the Humane Society of the United States and opposed by the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, which argued declawing should remain an option when the alternative is abandonment or euthanasia.
Animal welfare advocates argue the once-common operation is unnecessary and cruel, since it involves slicing through bone to amputate the first segment of a cat's toes.