|
The procedure is usually performed by owners who want to protect
their furniture or avoid being scratched themselves.
House Bill 1533 is sponsored by State Rep. Barbara Hernandez,
D-Aurora, and would make it a finable offense to surgically
remove a cat’s claws and ban any other surgical process that
would alter a cat’s paws. The measure is up for final passage in
the Illinois House before it could be sent to the Senate.
“It’s really hurtful and it can damage the behavior of the
animal as well,” Hernandez said during a recent House
Agriculture Committee hearing. “If it's a cat that is roaming
around the streets, it is now defenseless.”
Anyone caught declawing a cat would be subject to an Illinois
Department of Agriculture fine of $500 for the first offense and
$1,000 for a second violation.
State Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, said the measure will
force some pet owners to give up their cats.
“A cat that has been raised and nurtured in a house for most of
its life will maybe now be thrown outside,” Meier said. “They
won’t last long out there, even if it does have claws.”
The Illinois Humane Society brought the bill to Hernandez in
January, she said.
“Declawed cats do tend to bite more, and so the concern from us
and medical experts is that a bite is worse than a scratch,”
said Marc Ayers, Illinois state director of the Humane Society.
New York was the first state to ban the procedure in 2019,
followed by Maryland in 2022.
The bill passed out of the Agriculture and Conservation
Committee and is headed to the House floor.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
|
|
