Should Declawing Cats Be Illegal in Texas?

There's a growing movement to ban the practice of declawing cats, and I'm curious what you think.  Oh, and wait until you see what has happened to my fancy leather recliner because I own cats with claws.  It's not pretty!

Cat declawing is banned in several countries, including England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.

Lawmakers in New York passed a ban on cat declawing earlier this summer, and if the governor signs the bill, New York would become the first state in the US to make it illegal.  Several California cities have banned it too, including Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Monica.  It's illegal to declaw a cat in Denver too.  Should Texas be next?

NBC News describes the process of cat declawing.  It "involves amputating a cat's toes back to the first knuckle.  Unlike human nails, a cat's claws are attached to the bone, so declawing a feline requires a veterinarian to slice through tendon and nerves to remove the last segment of bone in a cat's toes."

Okay, gross.  And tearing up my furniture is also gross.

My cats, Willow and Toby, both have their claws and they love to exercise them.  I've got cat scratching posts strategically placed around the living areas, but every once in a while they stretch out their paws on my leather furniture and leave a little snag mark.  Dang it!  So in an effort to prevent major damage, I've made a complete mess out of my black leather movie-theater-style chair with fancy blue lights and a motorized recliner.  You can't even see it!  It's totally buried beneath makeshift cat shields.

While I understand that declawing the cats can be barbaric and inhumane, I also understand that I want nice things.  I wish I could sit down with the cats for a talk and get them to see my side.  Knead your paws only in designated areas, please.  Here, have some catnip.

So far it's still within the law to get your cats declawed in Texas, but that could change in the coming years with the worldwide push to ban it.

Now, back to shopping for furniture pads and covers that might look a little more tasteful.  Pets are expensive.