Page C2, Sunday, February 20, 2011
LIFE & TIMES
Poll looks at feelings on declawing, debarking
Surgeries continue to cause debate among pet owners
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Cats
scratch and dogs bark. Is de-
clawing or debarking the an-
swer?
Nearly 60 percent of
American pet owners, in-
cluding 55 percent of cat
owners, say it is OK to have a
cat declawed, but only 8 per-
cent approve of having a
dog’s vocal cords removed,
according to an Associated
Press- Petside.com poll.
Experts say both surgeries
are painful and alter the way
the animals walk or talk.
Declawing a cat “is ampu-
tation. If you look at your
fingers, declawing would be
like amputating the last sec-
tion of each finger. If you
were declawed, you would
have 10 little short fingers.
It’s amputation times 10,”
said veterinarian Louise
Murray, vice president of the
Bergh Memorial Animal
Hospital in New York City.
The hospital is part of the
American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to An-
imals.
Most vets won’t do all four
feet, because that is consid-
ADOPTABLE PETS
The following animals
are available for adoption
at the Humane Society of
Carroll County, 2517 Lit-
tlestown Pike, Westmin-
ster. Some of these
animals may have been
adopted before press time.
Dogs
Pomeranian mix,
neutered male, black, 3
years.
Peek-a- poo, male, white,
1 year.
Labrador, chow, and rot-
tweiler mix puppy, female,
tri color, 8 weeks.
Labrador, chow, and rot-
tweiler mix puppy, female,
brown, 8 weeks.
Labrador, chow, and rot-
tweiler mix puppy, female,
black and white, 8 weeks.
Six Labrador, chow, and
rottweiler mix puppies,
Obama pushes effort
to protect public lands
ASSOCIATED PRESS
conservation to raise Amer- ing that the program shares
WASHINGTON — Presi- icans’ awareness of the out- some of the goals of a fit-
dent Barack Obama said a
doors and the importance ness initiative by first lady
new administration effort to
of nature, especially among Michelle Obama.
protect public lands will put
people back to work in
tourism and recreation and
help Americans stay health-
ier by encouraging outdoor
activities.
The initiative largely in-
corporates existing pro-
grams under a new name,
“America’s Great Out-
doors.” Still, it aims to dou-
ble federal spending on land
and water conservation to
$900 million. The money
would be used to buy pri-
vate land for public use and
provide grants to states.
Obama said it is impor-
tant to conserve public
lands, even in tough eco-
nomic times, and that the
new program will encour-
age more Americans to
enjoy the outdoors.
“These are the right steps
to take for our environment.
But they’re also the right
steps to take for our coun-
try,” Obama said at a White
House ceremony.
The White House de-
clined to release a price tag
for the outdoors initiative,
but said much of the spend-
ing will be blended into ex-
isting programs run by the
Interior and Agriculture de-
partments and the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
The program also encom-
passes the White House
Council on Environmental
Quality and other federal
agencies.
The Interior Depart-
" !%$ "#&#
ment, which has the largest
ered extremely inhumane
and unsafe for the cat, she
said.
Mary Sullivan, 84, of
Chicago, said she had a cat
declawed once because he
kept slipping on slick floors
in her apartment. “Shortly
afterward he died. He was
in agony the whole time. It
broke my heart that I had it
done. I’d never do that
again,” she said.
When she got Roger from
Tails of Hope about seven
years ago, a condition of the
adoption was no declawing.
She said they showed her
how to cover her furniture
if there were a problem, but
Roger, who’s 14 now, doesn’t
care about furniture.
“It’s not cruel to declaw
your cats,” said Jennifer
Soloway, 60, a retired judge
in Sacramento. Her cats, in-
cluding Willie, who just
died at 14, and Nemo, who is
15, were both declawed
when they were young.
“They do not know
they’ve been declawed.
They made the same
kneading movements. The
recovery process was very
male, black and white,
brown and white, and tri
color, 8 weeks.
Cats
All cats are domestic
short hair unless other-
wise noted.
Female, orange tiger, 3
years.
Female, calico, 4 years.
Female, gray and black
tiger, 7 months.
Male, buff, two years.
Female, calico, 1 year.
Spayed female, black, 5
months.
Spayed female, tortishell
white, 2 years.
Spayed female, gray tor-
tishell, 1 year.
Spayed female, gray
tiger, 3 years.
Neutered male, black, 1
year.
Spayed female, white
tortie, 2 years.
The program goes beyond children, Obama said, not-
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CUSTOMER OPERATIONS
short. They never showed
any sign of pain,” she said.
Declawing was necessary,
she said. “My little daughter
had scratches all over her.
Everyone in the family had
scratches. They destroyed
our wallpaper. It was the
only solution we could
come up with,” Soloway
said.
Murray said it’s hard to
assess pain in cats. After
surgery, they are “walking
around on stumps with
stitches” and if they dig
around in their litter, they
can be in a lot of pain.
The ASPCA opposes de-
clawing, debarking, defang-
ing, ear cropping and tail
docking — any elective sur-
gery done to conform to
breed standard or eliminate
undesirable behavior — ex-
cept in extreme circum-
stances. For example, the
health of a cat owner may
be at risk if the owner has
an immune system disorder
or illness that leaves them
susceptible to serious infec-
tion if scratched.
Ninety percent of pet
owners oppose removing a
Neutered male, gray, 5
years.
Neutered male, gray, 3
months.
Spayed female, calico, 2
years.
Female, orange tiger, 3
years.
All dogs and cats
adopted from the Humane
Society of Carroll County
must be household pets,
and must be spayed or
neutered. Dogs must be li-
censed and kept on their
own property. A pre-adop-
tion questionnaire must be
completed, and adoptions
are approved or denied
with the animal’s best in-
terest paramount. For in-
formation, call the
Humane Society at 410-
848-4810 or 410-875-
5379 or visit www.carr.org/
humane.
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dog’s vocal cords. Forty-
seven percent would favor a
law making the procedure il-
legal, while 44 percent
would oppose a law.
Last July, Massachusetts
became the first state to ban
elective devocalization sur-
geries for cats or dogs. Vio-
lations are punishable
under the state’s animal
E X H I B I T O R S W A N T E D F O R T H E 13 T H A N N U A L
2011
Carroll County H m e Show
C arroll C ou n ty A g C en ter- Sh ip ley A ren a • 706 A gric u ltu re C en ter D r. • W estm in ster, M D 21157
SA TU RD A Y , A P RIL 9 & SU N D A Y , A P RIL 10, 2011
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cruelty laws. Virginia law-
makers are considering a
similar measure.
Of dog owners who took
part in the poll, only 1 per-
cent reported having the
procedure done on their
pet. There was no differ-
ence between dog owners
and others who were asked
if it was OK — 89 percent
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S pons or ed B y :
CORTINA & FAMILY
BGE CUSTOMERS | Windsor Mill
Carroll County Times
who own dogs said no.
Veteran dog trainer and
behaviorist Jonathan Klein of
Culver City, Calif., would
support a state ban on de-
barking because even though
90 percent sounds like a lot,
it still means that for every
900,000 dog owners who
oppose it, there are 100,000
who would not, he said.
N atu raL aw n of A m eric a
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