California has officially made it illegal for veterinarians to declaw cats anywhere in the state after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 867 into law, joining only four other states in banning the controversial practice. The new legislation prohibits any type of claw removal procedure unless medically necessary, ending what animal welfare advocates have fought against for years as an outdated and inhumane practice that involves amputating the first joint of a cat’s paw. In Defense of Animals, one of the groups that championed the ban, compared declawing to cutting off a human fingertip at the last joint and said it often results in lifelong pain and suffering for cats who undergo the procedure. While the practice was previously legal with veterinarian oversight, the new law allows the California Veterinary Medical Board to deny, revoke, or suspend licenses and assess fines for performing the procedure for anything other than therapeutic purposes.
The ban makes California the largest state to outlaw declawing, joining New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, while nearly 40 countries worldwide have already classified the practice as mutilation. Several California cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Beverly Hills had already enacted local bans before the statewide measure took effect. The California Veterinary Medical Association opposed the legislation, arguing that surveys show about 80 percent of veterinarians don’t perform the procedure anyway and calling the ban fundamentally unnecessary government overreach. However, animal welfare advocates celebrated what they’re calling a historic win for compassionate treatment, with Dr. Marilyn Kroplick of In Defense of Animals declaring that declawing has no place in a compassionate society and praising California for prioritizing animal well-being over human convenience.
