Essays by Pamelyn

Co-Existence, Not Violence, Is the Answer

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As if Australia’s animals haven’t suffered enough from the raging brushfires, officials in that country recently announced plans to shoot and kill thousands of camels. Why? Because thirsty camels have “strayed” into human communities looking for water to drink.

In the United States, federal and state governments are spending tens of millions of dollars on plans to “eradicate” feral pigs. The pigs’ “crime?” Entering into human communities looking for food to stay alive. Local governments in California, Arizona, and other states, have been carrying out the same vendetta against coyotes for decades.

The city of Denver, Colorado, plans to kill more of its Canada goose population this year, after slaughtering 1,600 geese last year. The geese have been visiting Colorado on their migrations for millennia, but some people there consider them a “nuisance.”

The story, sadly, is always the same. When human and non-human interests appear to conflict, humans characteristically resort to the slaughtering of innocent animals.  Instead of portraying non-humans as fellow creatures simply trying to exist, we portray them as enemy “invaders” who are coming to destroy our homes and our neighborhoods. Governments and the media use inflammatory rhetoric like “invading armies of pigs,” “marauding bands of coyotes,” and “raiding parties.” Never mind, of course, that the animals were there first, until human “invaders” pushed them out of their natural habitats.

When we use such language, we contribute to the violence against animals. Violent, militaristic language creates distance between human and non-human animals, erasing them as individuals who matter morally and ethically, and obscuring the reality that humans attack and kill far more non-humans (and humans) than the other way around. This makes it easier to rationalize killing animals rather than searching for ways to peacefully co-exist with them.

Invasive species rhetoric is, of course, not the only way that humans create distance from other animals. We also create distance by calling individual animals “it” and by calling the murder of animals a “cull.” The not-so-subtle message is that only humans and their interests matter, while non-human animals and their struggle to survive don’t.

Human activity is increasingly leaving the other residents of this planet without a place to live. Our species is taking more and more space and, through development and human-caused climate change, making more of the planet uninhabitable. Humans have driven native animals from their natural habitats and introduced others to habitats in which they struggle to adapt and survive. They are losing their homes, food supplies, and breeding grounds to humans paving over wetlands, cutting down forests, strip mining on land, and dumping trash in the sea. It is no coincidence that pigs, camels, geese, coyotes, and other “invasive” species are desperately searching for food, water, and shelter. We create a dire situation for other animals, then punish them when they try to cope with it.

What if, instead of punishing non-humans with violence for trying to survive, we accept that humans are responsible for making it necessary for them to enter our neighborhoods and look for food in our gardens and garbage cans? What if we accept that they are fellow beings who deserve to live as much as we do? Many conflicts with animals can be resolved if we restructure society to be more inclusive of other species. The more territory and resources that humans preserve and protect for other animals (more parks and preserves, for example), the less they will be forced need to enter human communities looking for food, water, or places to live. And, the more accommodations that we create for other animals in “our” communities (by making buildings and roads more animal-friendly, for another example), the less conflict there will be among humans and non-humans co-existing in these spaces.

As we work to build a more just society for humans and non-humans alike, we must at least discuss these conflicts for space and resources without describing animals as “pests” and “invaders” or resorting to violence as the go-to means of conflict resolution. Let’s replace mass exterminations and culls with justice and compassion.

“For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.” – Henry Beston, writer and naturalist

Peace to ALL the animals with whom we share this planet!

A Matter of Love

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Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love: love of a spouse or significant other, love of a parents or child, love of friends. There are all kinds of love.

There are few among us who haven’t loved an animal. Maybe it was a dog or a cat a rabbit or a bird, and no doubt you believed your animal companion loved you, too. But do animals really love?

Of course they do. When it comes to the ability to feel emotion, non-human animals are no different than human animals. We all experience happiness, sadness, fear, loneliness, anger, and the bonds of companionship. We all feel love, too. You need only observe animals to know that this is true. Nearly all animals care for their children, share mutual bonds with mates (many species mate for life), show strong attachments to companions, demonstrate compassion for the suffering or wounded of their kind (and often of other kinds), exhibit anxiety and sadness when separated, and joy when reunited, and grieve when a child, mate, or companion dies. It is arrogance to suggest that human love is different, or better, or more “real,” than the love animals feel. Whether you’re a human, a monkey, a whale, or a penguin, love is love.

I’ve had many domestic animal companions and I loved them all. They, in turn, showed me love. Never could I have eaten them or hurt or exploited them in any way. How, then, could I eat, hurt, or exploit other animals just because I don’t know them? That’s why I am vegan.  I cannot be complicit in the suffering, torture and abuse of non-human animals. It’s a matter of compassion, and of love.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

You Can Help Stop the Slaughter in Shelters Now

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On January 10, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a plan to invest $50 million over five years to turn his state into a no-kill animal shelter state. You DO NOT have to live in California to help make this happen, or to make it happen in your state, too.

Back in the 1990s I was the Director of Public Relations for New York’s City’s Center for Animal Care and Control. The CACC ran the city’s animal shelters, and I saw first-hand what happens behind closed doors in those death camps. Animals brought into the shelters have three days in which to be adopted. What happens after three days? These innocent, healthy, adoptable animals are taken to what’s called the “kill room.” They are held down and injected in the neck with a drug that causes decompression of their heart and lungs. The animals die slowly and in pain and terror. The poor, lifeless bodies are then dumped in a pile in a refrigerated room and later thrown onto garbage trucks and sent to rendering plants, where they will be ground up for fish food sold in the Pacific Rim countries. It’s brutal, it’s sickening, and I witnessed it with my own eyes. I witnessed the same thing in Los Angeles.

It doesn’t have to be that way. No-kill shelters, only “euthanize” animals who are terminally ill, irremediably suffering, and cannot be rehabilitated. No-kill shelters strive to find permanent homes for all the dogs and cats they take in.

Governor Newsom’s budget proposal to turn California into a no-kill state must pass. To do so, it needs the support of the California state legislature. This is where you and I come in. Remember, you don’t have to live in California to contact these legislators listed below and urge them to support the California for All Dogs & Cats proposal.

This has nothing to do with politics or being red or blue, Republican or Democrat. Send a message to legislators that compassionate citizens refuse to be a party to the mass slaughter of animals. Here’s a link to a list of California state legislators with their contact information. Take a few minutes to send an email, make a phone call, or mail a letter telling them to support no-kill animal shelters and save the lives of innocent animals. Then, contact your own state legislators and urge them to pass a similar bill. Healthy, adoptable, loving animals are being killed by the thousands or millions in your state, too.

Spread the word, stop the slaughter.

Make Your Super Bowl Party Animal Friendly!

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Growing up, I wasn’t a big football fan, but in 1969 I got to visit the Los Angeles Rams training camp for a photo shoot to promote the movie, “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” We recreated Lucy’s favorite gag – holding the ball for Charlie Brown to kick then pulling it away at the last moment. Rams kicker Bruce Gossett, filling in for Charlie Brown, was a good sport, and we had fun.

This weekend is the Super Bowl, and football fans everywhere will be gathering to watch the game and devour untold tons of snacks at Super Bowl parties. My heart breaks when I think of all those chicken wings and other animal products laid out on snack tables. Every wing, sausage, and cold cut reminds me of the innocent lives who suffered and were slaughtered to become snacks. It’s heartbreaking.

There are many mouth-watering vegan alternatives that can make your Super Bowl party 100% cruelty-free. Have you tried Beyond Sausages from the Beyond Meat company? They’re juicy and delicious, and they smell and cook great on the grill. There are plant-based Buffalo- and barbecue-style “chicken” wings that your guests will tear into and ask for more of.

Like coleslaw and potato salad? Make it with dairy- and egg-free Veganaise. I enjoy it on sandwiches, and it’s so much healthier for you.

Offer your guests a beautiful and delicious cheese plate using vegan cheeses. I like the ones made by Daiya, but there are many others. Treeline has a scallion soft spread cheese that is delicious, and Myokos has a good smokey-flavored hard cheese. Supplement your cheese plate with fruits, nuts, and crunchy vegetables. Vegan queso is great, there’s guacamole, and coconut yogurt makes a great base for all kinds of dips. Vegan cheeses are great on pizza, too!

There are vegan meatballs and vegan burgers. I like a hearty vegan chili. Recently I had a great Kung Pao cauliflower. Be creative!

You can find some great recipes for vegan appetizers, dips, and other snacks here.

A lot of people think eating vegan means a steady diet of salads and raw carrots. Get over it! In the 21st century, an amazing and delicious variety of vegan foods are available everywhere. Make your Super Bowl party truly super and 100% cruelty-free.

Peace to ALL the animals with whom we share this planet.

 

2020 Is the Year of the Rat

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January 25 is the Chinese New Year. Welcome to the Year of the Rat!

When I think of rats, I think of Templeton in Charlotte’s Web. Templeton was greedy and larcenous, just as rats are typically stereotyped, but he was also noble and kind and a loyal friend.

Humans stereotype animals just as they stereotype other humans. There is often a wide gap between those stereotypes and reality. Pigs are not dirty, sloths are not lazy, and gorillas are not savage beasts. Many people have an image of rats as filthy, disgusting, and villainous; they are not. Rats are intelligent and sociable animals, not that different than dogs. Yet, millions of rats are killed in U.S. laboratories every year. They are abused in everything from toxicology tests (in which they are slowly poisoned to death) to painful burn experiments to psychological experiments that induce terror, anxiety, depression, and helplessness. They are deliberately electroshocked in pain studies, mutilated in experimental surgeries, and have everything from cocaine to methamphetamine pumped into their bodies. They are given cancerous tumors and are injected with human cells in genetic-manipulation experiments. Animal activists infiltrating laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Utah revealed that mice and rats were given enormous tumors and painful, deadly illnesses. Rats had holes drilled into their skulls for invasive brain experiments.

Rats are mammals with nervous systems similar to our own. It’s no secret that they feel pain, fear, loneliness, and joy just as we do. These highly social animals communicate with each other using high-frequency sounds that are inaudible to the human ear. They become emotionally attached to each other, love their families, and easily bond with human companions. Infant rats giggle when they are tickled. Not only do rats express empathy when another rat or a human they know is in distress, they also exhibit altruism. In laboratory settings free rats can be seen liberating other rats from their cages even if there is no clear benefit in doing so.

Unprotected by the law, experimenters can torture, maim, and kill rats at will. They don’t even have to provide them with pain relief. A 2009 survey by researchers at Newcastle University found that rats who underwent painful, invasive procedures such as skull surgeries, burn experiments, and spinal surgeries, were given post-procedural pain relief only about 20 percent of the time.

Rats – and other animals – don’t have to suffer and die in experimental labs. There are many non-animal test methods that can be used in place of animal testing. Not only are these non-animal tests more humane, they also have the potential to be cheaper, faster, and more relevant to humans. Write your representatives in government to put an end to animal testing in the Unites States. Don’t buy products tested on animals and urge your supermarket or grocery not to carry them. Always look for the “Not Tested on Animals” logo when you buy products. Help make the Year of the Rat cruelty-free for all animals.

What Is Ethical Veganism?

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What is ethical veganism?

Being an ethical vegan is refusing to eat animals or animal products – putting peace on your plate – and extends into a lifestyle and a belief system grounded in morality. Ethical vegans conduct their lives without exploiting animals in any form or fashion or being complicit in their suffering and abuse.

I practice ethical veganism. It is important to me to be vegan in every sense of the word. As an ethical vegan, I embrace a dynamic respect for all life. Ethical veganism is about what I eat and who I am. It’s about my choices relating to diet but also my choices relating to what I wear, what personal care products I use (NO animal testing and NO animal products in the ingredients), the activities I enjoy, and the work I do. Since ethical veganism pervades every facet of a person’s life, it also colors one’s personal relationships, political beliefs and social attitudes. It absolutely does mine.

I believe animals not only have the right to life, but also to live without pain or exploitation. Included in the philosophy of ethical veganism is a personal commitment to create the least harmful impact on one’s natural environment. Doing what I can to protect the environment or lessen the impact of climate change helps all living things.

Recently, in Norwich, England, a judge ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief, entitled to the same legal protections as a religious belief. A man, Jordi Casamitjana, an ethical vegan, had claimed he was fired from his job because of his veganism. Casamitjana worked for an animal welfare charity called League Against Cruel Sports. Casamitjana claims he was let go because he revealed to his colleagues that their employer’s pension fund was being invested in companies that experiment on animals.

The court’s ruling, that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief protected by law, means that Casamitjana’s discrimination lawsuit can continue. The case will be decided in February, but if the court finds that he was indeed fired for his beliefs, it will be a victory for ethical vegans everywhere.

There will always be those who fear or despise ethical vegans and boast of their pleasure in killing and eating animals. But ethical veganism is what I believe in and how I live my life; what those who oppose think of that doesn’t matter to me at all.

Peace to ALL the animals with whom we share this planet.

Congress Considers a Ban on Wild Animals in Traveling Circuses

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That’s me at left, protesting the cruel treatment of animals at a California circus in 1997. This year, 2020, California joins Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York City in prohibiting circuses from using wild animals as entertainment. Hopefully, the entire United States will soon do the same.

A bill that bans the use of wild animals in traveling circuses has been introduced in Congress. Traveling circuses fall under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, a federal agency, and thus Congress has the authority to make laws that apply to the treatment of circus animals. The bill before Congress now would amend the Animal Welfare Act,a law that has monitored human treatment of animals in research, transport, entertainment, and more since 1966.

The bill’s website explains the “adverse effects” of captivity and transport on animals used for entertainment. “Due to severe confinement, lack of free exercise, and the restriction of natural behaviors, animals used in traveling circuses suffer and are prone to health, behavioral, and psychological problems,” it explains. It adds that law enforcement authorities struggle to monitor circuses effectively due to their mobility, meaning the “brutality” faced by animals often goes undocumented. As the website says, “Congress has a responsibility to protect the welfare of animals and ensure public safety.”

A Democrat, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, and a Republican, David Schweikert, also of Arizona, are co-sponsors of the bill. If Democrats and Republicans can see eye-to-eye on a matter of such grave importance, shouldn’t the bill to ban the cruel exploitation of animals in circuses be something everyone can get behind?

Please write your Representative and urge him or her to support the bill. Thank you.

Peace to ALL the animals with whom we share this planet!

 

Please Help Australia’s Wildlife

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This is me at the age of three with a beloved koala doll. Today my heart is broken for all the koalas and other animals of Australia. That country is facing a crisis from the worst fires in their history. TV news programs tell us that millions of acres of land have been scorched, homes burned, and 19 people killed, but often left unmentioned is the fact that half a billion (that’s billion, with a B) animals have also been burned to death or choked to death by smoke. This is a tragedy on an almost unimaginable scale.

Koalas are uniquely at risk during bushfires. While kangaroos and Australia’s other native animals can move quickly and try to outrun the fast-moving fires, koalas move slowly. Because of this, they are dying by the thousands. According to Newsweek, experts estimate 8,000 koalas in New South Wales alone have died in the fires. Even koalas who manage to get away from the fires are being brought to relief stations and animal hospitals with life-threatening burns and other serious injuries.

In the time it takes you to read this, thousands more animals will die. Millions more – mammals, birds, and reptiles – are in imminent peril. You can help.

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital desperately needs help. Donate here.

The World Wildlife Fund is accepting donations for help with emergency animal care. You can help them out here.

WIRES (Wildlife Rescue) is an organization that helps rescue and treat injured animals. An emergency fund has been set up to help. You can donate here.

Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast is another worthy organization. You can help them out here.

PETA Australia helps Australia’s animals in so many ways. Make a donation here.

Humans must be stewards of the Earth, including ALL the world’s animals, not just pf those companions at home or the wildlife in your own area. Please consider making a donation now to help save lives and treat the injured from the Australian wildfires.

Peace to ALL the animals with whom we share this planet.

 

 

 

“Game Changers” – A Must-See Movie

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Happy Holidays to all my fans! Looking for a great movie to watch before shopping for the big holiday dinner? I’m really excited about the Netflix documentary “Game Changers” and a recent USA Today article that are both changing the public face of veganism. Now that elite athletes are “going vegan,” people are realizing just how important eating a plan- based diet is for health, stamina and recovery from injuries and inflammation. “Game Changers” is produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, Chris Paul, Joseph Pace, and James Wilks.

You won’t believe all the  professional athletes who have adopted a vegan diet, including the NFL legend quarterback Tom Brady, NBA stars Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul, ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek, silver medal-winning Olympic cyclist Dotsie Bausch, and tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams. Arnold Schwarzenegger is vegan, and the strongest man on earth, Patrik Baboumian, is, too. Watch Baboumian flip a car over in “Game Changers” and do a yoke-walk carrying 1,200 pounds. As his t-shirt says, he’s a “Vegan Badass!” They’ve all switched to a plant-based diet to put them at the top of their game. “Game Changers” also features interviews with elite athletes, sports doctors, cardiologists, and even a urologist who proves by clinical trial that a vegan diet has a very positive effect on men’s “manhood.” 

I’ve been vegan for almost 30 years.  While I enjoy the health benefits, my motivation was to do what I could to put a stop to the cruelty, suffering and killing of animals. I’ve witnessed firsthand the shocking things done to animals on factory farms and smaller independent farms.  I’ve seen the chickens with their beaks sheared off so they won’t peck each other in crowded, stressful living conditions. I’ve seen the poor suffering dairy cows artificially inseminated in what the dairy industry calls “rape racks” to keep them pregnant and lactating their sad miserable lives. They’re then killed when their productivity declines. I’ve seen three-day-old male baby calves torn from their mothers’ sides to be shipped to veal farms where they are put into cages so small they can’t even turn around, then fed an iron-deficient diet to keep their flesh pale and tender. These and other horrors I’ve seen with my own eyes are why I try so hard to inform and educate others with my Saturday Facebook essays.   

Whether you’re interested in helping putting an end to cruel suffering and death of animals or simply interested in improving your health and vitality, “Game Changers” is the must-see movie of the season. 

Here is the USA Today article, which underscores the revelations in “Game Changers:”

ATHLETES TURN TO PLANT-BASED AND VEGAN DIETS TO GAIN EDGE IN A GROWING SPORTS WORLD TREND

Alex Morgan remembers athletes sporting milk mustaches in ads when she was a kid, reinforcing the idea that she needed protein from animal and dairy products to be strong. “I never thought it was possible I could be playing at an elite level as a professional athlete with a plant-based diet,” the U.S. women’s soccer star told USA TODAY Sports. “Then I realized it wasn’t detrimental at all. What I learned growing up just wasn’t true.”

When Morgan’s Orlando Pride teammates and the MLS teammates of her husband, Servando Carrasco, showed they could thrive while eating vegan, the stigma was erased and Morgan was ready to try a new diet. She became vegetarian in August 2017 and then took on a vegan lifestyle at the beginning of 2018.

NEW TREND IN SPORTS WORLD

What Alex Morgan and Chris Paul eat everyday is entirely  plant based.  “If anything, it makes me stronger and helps with fatigue and recovery,” said Morgan, who had the U.S. women team’s chef, Teren Green, prepare vegan meals during the World Cup, prompting several of her teammates to give it a try. 

Veganism is on the rise in the United States — the plant-based market increased 17% in dollar sales this last year, according to The Good Food Institute — and more athletes are turning to the diet, particularly at the peak and latter stages of their careers. 

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the most prominent football player to embrace veganism, crediting his plant-based diet for allowing him to play at an MVP level into his 40s. He made the change starting in 2014, and detailed his approach in his 2017 book, “The TB12 Method.”

Athletes have been exposed to plant-based diets for a variety of reasons. NBA guard Chris Paul said his children’s nanny was vegan. 

Recovering from a shoulder injury, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said in April he’s gone vegan to aid his stamina and rehabilitation. 

Tennis star Venus Williams adopted a vegan diet in 2011 after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. 

A gluten allergy led Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic to go plant-based, and in 2016 he opened up a Monte Carlo vegan restaurant. 

While most nutrition experts are in agreement that veganism aids recovery and promotes good health, others raise questions about its effectiveness.  Yet athletes are among the biggest advocates for veganism. 

Morgan and Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving were named “Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities” by PETA this year. “The rules aren’t as strict as everyone thinks,” Irving told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m an example of someone who ate really unhealthy — fast food or a quick TV dinner in the microwave — without educating myself on what I was putting into my body. Now I feel like I understand the truth — how certain chemicals in meat and dairy affect your body, and that now there are alternatives bridging the gap available.”

Those alternatives start with plant-based meat companies such as Beyond Meat, which has attracted Paul, Irving and Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins as investors. You’ve got to be open-minded,” Paul said. “I was someone who was like, ‘I don’t want that fake chicken or fake burger.’ But it tastes similar and it really makes a huge difference in how I feel.”

James Loomis, who practices internal medicine at Barnard Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he believes a vegan diet is a natural fit for athletes: “It leads to quicker recovery from workouts and better injury prevention. The food pyramid is misleading and that’s stayed with us from a young age. The standard American diet leads to low-grade inflammation so when athletes are exercising it’s like putting Diesel fuel into a regular car.” 

Cate Shanahan, a nutrition consultant says “The healthiest diet comes from four natural pillars — fresh food, fermented and sprouted food, meat cooked on the bone, and organ meats.”

Loomis disagrees, and has data to prove it. He collaborated with experts for a 2019 study that outlined evidence of plant-based diets benefiting endurance athletes in heart health, overall performance and recovery. 

“It’s a factual myth that we have to have animal protein to perform at a high level,” he said. “With a plant based diet, food becomes more like medicine.” 

Loomis is one of the doctors featured on “Game Changers,” a documentary that debuted in September that features MMA fighter James Wilks exploring the differences between protein from plant-based and meat-based diets.

“If you go into locker rooms and look at the pre-game meal, it’s usually steak or chicken or pasta, and there’s lots of Whey Protein powder,” said Loomis, the former team internist for the St. Louis Rams and Cardinals. “That’s then amplified commercially with marketing, basically saying, ‘You’re not a man unless you eat meat.’”

Times are changing. Brady appeared in a 2002 Got Milk? ad. Nowadays he’s promoting his own plant-based protein shakes. 

Silver medal-winning Olympic cyclist Dotsie Bausch became vegan in her mid-30s — three years before the 2012 London Games — and appeared in an anti-milk commercial for her non-profit, Switch4Good, during the 2018 Winter Olympics. 

“Most people have meat and dairy because the next person does it,” Bausch said. “The truth is milk doesn’t make you grow big and strong.” 

Chris Paul’s personal chef, Seong Hwang, prepared a post-game meal for the Houston Rockets last season. He didn’t tell players until afterwards that it was made with Beyond Meat.

“The players, the staff, they all loved it solely based on the taste,” Seong said. “No one wants to give up taste. Chris is a big foodie. If what I was making him didn’t taste good, he wouldn’t stick with it. Whenever you hear veganism, you think you have to give up something or eat tofu to survive. That’s really not the case.”

The vegan perception can be damning, though. According to a 2017 report by NBC Sports Bay Area, NFL teams were dissuaded by Colin Kaepernick’s vegan diet, calling it a red flag when considering signing the free agent quarterback.

“There’s a weird connotation that comes with veganism,” said Loomis, who moved his practice to Washington, D.C., from the St. Louis area because colleagues in the Midwest thought his approach was “crazy.”

Morgan says the stigma can go both ways.

“It took me a while to feel comfortable with my lifestyle,” said Morgan, who also supports veganism because of ethical concerns around animal rights. “The vegan community can be very unforgiving at times, and I don’t want to sit here and say I’ve never eaten dairy or worn leather. But I haven’t eaten meat or dairy in two years and do the best I can.”

“I just want to feel good about why I’m doing this. I don’t think our country is there yet, in terms of being able to adopt a fully vegan lifestyle, but we’re getting there.” 

New York Passes Bill Banning the Declawing of Cats

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Hooray for New York, which this week became the first state to pass legislation banning the declawing of cats. California, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are considering similar bans. Declawing is already banned in some cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver.

Cats’ claws are a vital part of their anatomy and their instinctive behavior. They use them to escape from other animals or people who are hurting or threatening them. Cats claw to have fun and exercise, to maintain the condition of their nails, and to mark their territory. They stretch by digging their claws in and pulling against their own claw-hold.

Declawing of cats, or onychectomy, is not at all like clipping your fingernails. It is the amputation of the last bone, including the nail bed and claw, on each front toe. It is the same as cutting off each of your fingers at the first knuckle. Declawing is serious surgery and puts a cat at risk of adverse reactions to anesthesia, gangrene, hemorrhaging, permanent nerve damage, persistent pain, difficulty walking, scar tissue formation, bone fragments, and skin disorders. After surgery, the nails may grow back inside the paw, causing pain but remaining invisible to observers. Declawing results in a gradual weakening of leg, shoulder, and back muscles, and because of impaired balance caused by the procedure, declawed cats must relearn to walk, much as a person would after losing his or her toes.

Without claws, even house-trained cats may urinate outside the litter box. Declawed cats may be morose, reclusive, and withdrawn or irritable, aggressive, and unpredictable. Many people think that declawed cats are safer around babies, but in fact, the lack of claws, a cat’s first line of defense, makes many cats feel so insecure that they tend to nip more often as a means of self-protection. Declawed cats often develop behavioral problems that eventually lead to their being dumped at animal shelters and killed.

Peace to all the animals with whom we share this planet!