Banfield is the world's largest vet practice with over 750 veterinary hospitals in the U.S. The company protects the welfare of dogs by not allowing elective surgeries such as ear cropping, tail docking and debarking. However, they continue to declaw cats.

Like ear cropping and tail docking, declawing is an elective amputation surgery. There is no medical reason for removing a cat's claws, and the surgery is often painful and can lead to behavioral problems. The procedure has been deemed inhumane and banned in over 37 countries and a handful of cities in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the problems that people have with their cats' claws can be solved through behavior modification and non-surgical techniques.

Ask Banfield to look out for the welfare of their feline patients, in addition to dogs, and stop offering routine declawing surgeries.

Photo credit: AnasiZ