West Hollywood bans cat declawing

By a vote of 5-0, the city of West Hollywood, CA, has enacted a ban on cat declawing. "We would just encourage our neighboring cities to follow our lead," said Councilman John Duran after the vote.

It is the first such ban animal advocates are aware of in the United States, though onychectomy, as the declawing procedure is formally known, is banned in several European countries. The Paw Project is an organization dedicated to educating the public on the effects of declawing felines and supports abolishing the practice.