COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers have their claws out — introducing a bipartisan bill to make it illegal to declaw a cat.
Al Cutrona just purrfected his family.
"I just recently adopted Archie," Cutrona said. "I'm happy, and it's been exciting to have him in my life."
His new cat has quickly become his best friend. As many cat companions know, they use their paws — and their claws — to play, to fight and to make biscuits.
Veterinarian Dr. Aziza Glass explained that claws are part of a cat's paws and are sharp. But not all cats have them.
"Declawing, the process of removing the claw or essentially the nail of the fingers, the digits, the toes," Glass said.
Taking away claws can, but not always, cause chronic pain and health problems, behavioral issues and an inability to run, jump or climb.
"It's basically sadistic," Cutrona said. "And so I thought, 'Why the heck do we even allow that in the state of Ohio?'"
Cutrona is also a Republican state senator. He and Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) put forward bipartisan S.B. 252, which would ban the declawing of cats. Violations could lead to thousands of dollars in fines. There are carve-outs in the legislation if the cat needs their claws removed for their overall health.
Declawing is already banned in New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island, along with a plethora of cities in the U.S. Dozens of other areas across the world, like the United Kingdom, Canada and Spain have major restrictions or total bans.
Some people want cats that are declawed because they are afraid of the damage to furniture or children, and veterinarian Dr. Sarah Wallace said cats might not get adopted — or could get returned — if they are not declawed.
"Cats, specifically that like to paw on their furniture or on the corner of couches, it can sometimes be so irritating that owners actually consider re-homing or giving up their cat," Wallace said.
Cutrona understood the concern, but said that furniture getting scratched isn’t worth harming your pets or possibly losing them.
"There are a lot of things that people can do with it, whether it's scratch pads, clipping their nails," he said. "Cats are more likely to get out of the house, to be out and about, and you're essentially taking away the only form of defense."
This bill will be heard in the coming weeks.
Jinx Trau, who was not the best behaved during the live shot, which can be watched in the player at the top, loves using his claws to play.
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