AVMA Pres-Elect & VP: Stop Declawing At Your Clinics & Support Declawing Bans!
The Issue
Inspire The AVMA's New Leaders, President-Elect Dr. Robert Knapp and Vice President, Dr. Elizabeth Boggier, To End Declawing In Their Clinics And The AVMA Help Pass Bills To Protect Cats From This Animal Cruelty!
The AVMA’s newest leaders must lead by example: stop declawing cats, their clinics stop declawing cats, support anti-declawing legislation, and put animal welfare before an outdated and harmful procedure.
We call on newly elected AVMA President-Elect Dr. Robert Knapp and Vice President Dr. Elizabeth Boggier to immediately stop performing declawing at their veterinary clinics, publicly condemn this inhumane procedure, and use their leadership positions to move the AVMA toward fully condemning domestic cat declawing and supporting laws that protect cats from this animal cruelty!
In September 2025, employees at Knapp Veterinary Hospital in Columbus, Ohio—the clinic owned by Dr. Knapp—told City the Kitty researchers that declaws are performed “all the time” and “Monday through Friday.” Employees stated that all four veterinarians, including Dr. Knapp himself, perform laser declaws.
At MountainView Veterinary Hospital in Denville, New Jersey, employees identified Dr. Elizabeth Boggier as one of the veterinarians who performs declaw surgeries.
Declawing is the inhumane and brutal amputation of the last bone of each toe in a cat's paw. Decades of scientific research have linked declawing to chronic pain, mobility problems, arthritis, and behavioral issues.
On July 11, 2026, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) elevated two veterinarians who, according to employees at their own clinics, personally perform cat declawing to the highest leadership positions within one of the world’s largest veterinary organizations.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Knapp said he was “proud to continue the legacy of care and service to our clients, the animals they care for, and our profession.” He said, “I stand on their shoulders, and I am where I am today because of them.”
But true care for animals cannot include barbarically amputating healthy cats’ toes and harming them for life. The legacy of veterinary medicine must be one of healing, compassion, and protecting animals from unnecessary suffering, not preserving this inhumane amputation procedure that many veterinary professionals consider unethical and wrong.
The AVMA has already acknowledged the serious harm of declawing by condemning the procedure in exotic and wild cats in 2012. The same ethical standard should apply to domestic cats. Instead, the AVMA continues to defend declawing as a matter of “professional judgment” and has opposed state and local legislation that would protect cats from this unnecessary amputation.
Veterinarians are supposed to be humane and ethical leaders who uphold their oath to protect animal health and relieve suffering. Leadership means having the courage to change when science and ethics demand it.
We ask:
1. Dr. Robert Knapp and Dr. Elizabeth Boggier immediately stop performing declawing procedures at their veterinary clinics and their clinics stop offering declawing.
2. Dr. Knapp and Dr. Boggier use their AVMA leadership positions to advocate for a full AVMA condemnation of declawing of domestic cats like the AVMA did in 2012 for exotic cats.
3. The AVMA stop opposing anti-declawing legislation and begin supporting laws that protect cats and reduce the moral distress experienced by veterinary professionals forced to participate in this procedure. Here's our story about this serious issue. https://citythekitty.org/is-the-angst-of-declawing-contributing-to-veterinarian-suicide/
Dr. Knapp and Dr. Boggier have an opportunity to show what true veterinary leadership looks like. They can choose to defend and perform this inhumane, unnecessary and outdated amputation procedure, or they can choose science, ethics, compassion, and the welfare of cats.
Cat welfare must come before convenience or profit. The future of veterinary medicine must be humane, ethical, and put the welfare of ALL animals first.
Declawing contributes to moral stress in the veterinary profession. http://citythekitty.org/is-the-angst-of-declawing-contributing-to-veterinarian-suicide/
Declawing is animal cruelty. Know the facts. http://citythekitty.org/declawing-facts-vs-myths-humane-options/
199
The Issue
Inspire The AVMA's New Leaders, President-Elect Dr. Robert Knapp and Vice President, Dr. Elizabeth Boggier, To End Declawing In Their Clinics And The AVMA Help Pass Bills To Protect Cats From This Animal Cruelty!
The AVMA’s newest leaders must lead by example: stop declawing cats, their clinics stop declawing cats, support anti-declawing legislation, and put animal welfare before an outdated and harmful procedure.
We call on newly elected AVMA President-Elect Dr. Robert Knapp and Vice President Dr. Elizabeth Boggier to immediately stop performing declawing at their veterinary clinics, publicly condemn this inhumane procedure, and use their leadership positions to move the AVMA toward fully condemning domestic cat declawing and supporting laws that protect cats from this animal cruelty!
In September 2025, employees at Knapp Veterinary Hospital in Columbus, Ohio—the clinic owned by Dr. Knapp—told City the Kitty researchers that declaws are performed “all the time” and “Monday through Friday.” Employees stated that all four veterinarians, including Dr. Knapp himself, perform laser declaws.
At MountainView Veterinary Hospital in Denville, New Jersey, employees identified Dr. Elizabeth Boggier as one of the veterinarians who performs declaw surgeries.
Declawing is the inhumane and brutal amputation of the last bone of each toe in a cat's paw. Decades of scientific research have linked declawing to chronic pain, mobility problems, arthritis, and behavioral issues.
On July 11, 2026, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) elevated two veterinarians who, according to employees at their own clinics, personally perform cat declawing to the highest leadership positions within one of the world’s largest veterinary organizations.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Knapp said he was “proud to continue the legacy of care and service to our clients, the animals they care for, and our profession.” He said, “I stand on their shoulders, and I am where I am today because of them.”
But true care for animals cannot include barbarically amputating healthy cats’ toes and harming them for life. The legacy of veterinary medicine must be one of healing, compassion, and protecting animals from unnecessary suffering, not preserving this inhumane amputation procedure that many veterinary professionals consider unethical and wrong.
The AVMA has already acknowledged the serious harm of declawing by condemning the procedure in exotic and wild cats in 2012. The same ethical standard should apply to domestic cats. Instead, the AVMA continues to defend declawing as a matter of “professional judgment” and has opposed state and local legislation that would protect cats from this unnecessary amputation.
Veterinarians are supposed to be humane and ethical leaders who uphold their oath to protect animal health and relieve suffering. Leadership means having the courage to change when science and ethics demand it.
We ask:
1. Dr. Robert Knapp and Dr. Elizabeth Boggier immediately stop performing declawing procedures at their veterinary clinics and their clinics stop offering declawing.
2. Dr. Knapp and Dr. Boggier use their AVMA leadership positions to advocate for a full AVMA condemnation of declawing of domestic cats like the AVMA did in 2012 for exotic cats.
3. The AVMA stop opposing anti-declawing legislation and begin supporting laws that protect cats and reduce the moral distress experienced by veterinary professionals forced to participate in this procedure. Here's our story about this serious issue. https://citythekitty.org/is-the-angst-of-declawing-contributing-to-veterinarian-suicide/
Dr. Knapp and Dr. Boggier have an opportunity to show what true veterinary leadership looks like. They can choose to defend and perform this inhumane, unnecessary and outdated amputation procedure, or they can choose science, ethics, compassion, and the welfare of cats.
Cat welfare must come before convenience or profit. The future of veterinary medicine must be humane, ethical, and put the welfare of ALL animals first.
Declawing contributes to moral stress in the veterinary profession. http://citythekitty.org/is-the-angst-of-declawing-contributing-to-veterinarian-suicide/
Declawing is animal cruelty. Know the facts. http://citythekitty.org/declawing-facts-vs-myths-humane-options/
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Petition created on July 11, 2026