I am starting a new series called:
THE INSIDIOUSLY NEGATIVE IMPACT OF OUR
CONVENIENCE DRIVEN, BOTTOMLINE-
POWER HUNGRY LIFESTYLE
Declawing – why should this be a
problem?
Our need to control our environment
shows itself even in the smallest things, such a pets.
I saw “The Paw Project” *1, a
documentary on the declawing of cats, small ones but also large cats
in Zoos or Circuses.
A compassionate veterinarian explained,
that it is very cruel to cats to declaw them, because we basically
cut off their toes. Envision someone coming along and cutting your
fingers off at the top joint. It can cause crippling effects and is
very painful. The animals may get infections, arthritis, their claws
may regrow now under the skin causing pain and since their defense
mechanism was taken their behavior may also change.
Why are we engaging in this practice?
We solely declaw cats because we don't
want them to tear up our furniture. We want the cat – but we don't
like the qualities genetically unique to a cat. Although domestic
cats are bred to co-habitate, others are forced to live in
environments for which they were not bred. Even those domestic breeds
cannot be fully adapted to our environments, fulfill our needs of
comfort and maybe even desires of being loved. No matter what the
benefits to us, we are mutilating these animals for our own selfish
reasons. We want something cuddly, furry to play with but don't like
these creatures to defend themselves or be naturally what they were
meant to be.
We devalue God's creation.
We do many silly things for
convenience's sake and then we make up reasons which sound quite
plausible in order to defend our practices. In this case we claim
that the cats would all end up in shelters if they were not declawed.
However, this could not be further from the truth. In reality there
are now more cats in shelters because of biting and erratic
behaviors.
Vets, on the other hand, declaw cats
because they are taught in school that this is a viable practice and
it makes good and fast money. A vet can make $ 75,000 a year just
declawing cats.
While some of the Veterinarians tried
to get a ban on declawing, others, and mostly those who call the
shots in national organizations are working on maintaining this
practice under pretext that the cats will be able to live in a home. In the end it comes to a battle between their voices and who can
shout louder and give more eloquent speeches, wins.
We seem to care little about the
suffering of these animals, but it's all about what we as humans want
and the benefits we expect from having these animals.
I suppose that is “normal” for a
selfish, superficial, convenience driven society......but it is sad.
God’s creation deserves our respect, not abuse.
*1 "The Paw Project" is a documentary available on Netflix.
