Singapore
More cats declawed
'Declawing is an extreme and harsh measure which takes away cats' natural defences, just as debarking takes away a dog's voice, their main form of communication,' said Ms Deirdre Moss. -- PHOTO: HANDOUT
IMAGINE having your fingers amputated, so you will not scratch anything - not even yourself.
A surgical procedure similar to the above concept, known as declawing, is what some pet owners here are contemplating putting their cats through.
Six out of 10 veterinarians my paper spoke to say they are seeing a spike in the number of declawing requests. A veterinarian, who has a clinic in Ang Mo Kio, said he saw a 20 per cent rise in cat owners wanting to declaw their pets in the last two years.
'I don't perform the surgery as I feel that my job is to heal ill animals, not to cause suffering,' he explained.
Five other practices also reported at least three to eight declawing requests yearly in the last couple of years, up from two to three they get annually in the past.
As for debarking, four say they have seen 'two to three yearly requests' in the past three years - whereas there was none before. This is a process where a sedated dog has its vocal cords cut. None of the clinics say they have performed it.
A receptionist working at a clinic in the Thomson Road area said declawing costs $200 or more. She said her clinic has performed more than three declawing procedures so far this year.
It is not known how much debarking costs.
An employee at Fluffy Friends, a Bukit Timah pet shop, said: 'I once had a customer who enquired about debarking even before buying the terrier he had his eye on. I told him having a pet probably wouldn't suit him.'
Experts and animal activists are up in arms over pet owners resorting to, or even considering, such surgery. Dr Wong Hon Mun, deputy director of Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), said these procedures will affect the animals' instinctive behaviour.
He said it is normal for cats to scratch as it helps them mark their territories. Similarly, dogs bark to alert their owners, draw attention and express a range of emotions.
Dr Wong said declawing and debarking are not illegal here and the AVA does not keep records of the numbers or types of any surgery performed. However, he cautioned that these procedures should be the 'final alternative, under very special circumstances and when it is necessary for the welfare of the animals concerned'.
For example, debarking may be warranted when there is 'a tumour to be removed from the throat region', but 'there are no medical conditions for the cat that can justify declawing, as this procedure removes all the claws', said Dr Wong.
Still, 'if the owner himself has a compromised immune system due to chemotherapy or lupus, an auto-immune disease, declawing will help protect the owner from being scratched', he added.
Nevertheless, animal-welfare groups say they oppose the surgery.
'Owners may want to protect their furniture from being scratched, but declawing is not like cutting a human's fingernails. A declawed cat is a maimed cat,' a Cat Welfare Society spokesman said.
Ms Deirdre Moss, executive officer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), agreed: 'Declawing is an extreme and harsh measure which takes away cats' natural defences, just as debarking takes away a dog's voice, their main form of communication.'
Instead, she recommends pet owners get scratching posts for their cats, and go for training with their dogs to address excessive barking. The Singapore Kennel Club has experts who advise on barking problems, while SPCA provides training courses conducted by a certified dog trainer for its adopted animals.
As part of its ongoing Responsible Pet Ownership Public Education Programme, AVA has organised school visits and roadshows and posted advertisements to reach out to Singaporeans.
Ms Joey Ng, 27, a bank executive and a cat lover, welcomed such initiatives, but said more can be done to educate pet owners. 'You either get a cat or not. There is no such thing as wanting a cat without claws,' she said.
For more information, contact SPCA on 6287-5355, Singapore Kennel Club on 6469-4821, or Cat Welfare Society at info@catwelfare.org. -- my paper
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