The famous Indian peace activist, Mahatma Gandhi, said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Over 22 million cats are declawed every year in the United States, and many of them die because of it. Declawing isn't simply removing a cat’s claws. Cats’ nails do not grow from skin like our nails do; they grow from the bone. Declawing a cat means amputating the last bone of each part of the cat’s front paws. For humans, it would be like cutting off our fingers at the last knuckle.

Declawing is a very painful procedure. After the declawing, another nail can start growing inside the cat’s paw if the vet did not completely remove the nail bone, causing an infection. Declawed cats often change the way they walk so that they can shift their weight off of their painful toes, thus cause arthritis in their shoulders, arms and legs. They also get stiffness in their joints.

Additionally, cats' behavior changes after being declawed. They become depressed and aggressive. They often start biting and using the furniture as their litter box. Since the owners may not like the new aggressive behavior of declawed cats, many end up abandoning the cats to the pound, where they often get put to death.

People declaw their cats in order to either save their furniture, or themselves from being scratched by their cats. However, there are ways to prevent both of these things from happening. If a cat lives indoor, nail caps are available to prevent the cat from scratching. In addition, a person can buy their cat multiple scratching posts which can be sprinkled with catnip.

Cats need their claws. They use them to help them climb and maintain balance, to help them stretch and exercise and to escape from danger. Help us save these innocent animals' lives. Ban the declawing of cats.