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West Hollywood's cats get law to keep claws |
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| USA: May 9, 2003 | ||
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WEST HOLLYWOOD - The liberal enclave of West Hollywood, which has long championed the rights of gay men and women, this week became the first city in the United States to ban "pet guardians" (also known as pet owners) from removing the claws of their cats.
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The ban on declawing - which involves the amputation of a cat's toes and tendons - came into effect after more than a year of campaigning by animal rights activists who say there are kinder ways of stopping cats scratching people and furniture. The ban on declawing will apply to veterinarians in the two-square-mile (5.2-sq-km) city, which last year decreed that pet owners should be known as pet "guardians" and their pets referred to as "companion animals." Councilman John Duran, who introduced the law, said it underlined West Hollywood's belief that pets "are more than chattel. This declaw legislation was the first tooth in supporting that." Declawing is already condemned by more than a dozen European nations, where cat owners opt instead for regular nail clipping, better training or claw caps. Opponents of the ban however say it could lead to people abandoning cats that use furniture as scratching posts. West Hollywood was the first U.S. city to extend health insurance to gay and lesbian partners of city employees. Animal activists hope it will now lead the way on the issue of cat declawing. Next year the council is expected to take up the issue of tail docking and ear cropping on dogs.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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