BC SPCA study analyzes if declawing ban increased number of cats being surrendered or euthanized

The College of Veterinarians of BC announced a declawing ban more than three years ago in May 2018.

A new study conducted by the BC SPCA and external researchers aimed to confirm if the ban has lead to an increase in the intake or euthanasia of cats.

“Opponents of declawing bans often voice concerns that it could lead to greater relinquishment of cats to animal shelters and we wanted to understand if these concerns were warranted,” Gordon explains.

Dr. Gordon and Dr. Karen van Haaften (BC SPCA) collaborated with Dr. Alexandre Ellis from Shelter Outreach Consultation Services and Dr. Sasha Protopopova from the Animal Welfare program at UBC produced the study.

Six years of data was analyzed, including the records of over 74,000 cats, from “the majority of animal shelters in BC.”

They analyzed intake and euthanasia counts, length of stay, euthanasia requests, intake and outcomes with statistical methods.

Dr. Gordon confirms that, “claims by opponents [...] that bans could lead to greater relinquishment of cats to animal shelters are not substantiated by any data, anywhere.”

"And 74,587 cats in BC have spoken: it does not.”

According to the statement, this study shows two important factors:

1. The declawing ban has not increased shelter intake

2. More support is needed to address the human factors that result in pets being surrendered to shelters (housing, human health or financial challenges)

“We hope this data can be used [...] to support bans against unnecessary and painful cosmetic surgeries and to begin discussions about how we address the systemic issues in our society that separate families from their pets,” Dr. Gordon adds.

More detailed information from the study can be found here.