February 21, 2020 – The VCA veterinary hospital system announced its groundbreaking no-declaw policy stating, “Every medical procedure supported by our veterinary practices has been put in place with the health and well-being of pets in mind and, based on this, we do not support the elective declawing of any animal in our veterinary practices.” Surgical procedures to treat injuries, infections, pathology, and deformities of the paws will still be performed as necessary, but VCA will not perform elective declaw procedures. VCA’s policy rejects the now-discredited reasons once given for declawing, such as the “protection of human health” and to prevent relinquishment and euthanasia of animals.
All veterinary hospitals operated by Mars Veterinary Health, including VCA, Banfield, and BluePearl hospitals, will not longer offer declawing. VCA-Canada‘s clinics stopped offering declawing in 2018.”
The Paw Project has worked patiently with the caring doctors at VCA for 18 years to find a way for VCA. VCA, Banfield, and BluePearl hospitals with their collective 2000+ clinics and 10,000+ employee veterinarians (10-12% of all veterinarians in the US) have been dedicated to finding a way to stop declawing and now they have. This is a red-letter day for cats and all who care for them.