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Alberta vets vote to ban declawing

Last Updated Feb 26, 2019 at 12:07 pm MDT

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Alberta’s veterinarians have voted to ban medically unnecessary procedures on pets, but the measures won’t come into effect immediately.

The procedures include declawing, ear cropping and tail docking.

Vets also voted to require colleagues and their staff to report animal abuse and neglect.

Registrar with the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (ABVMA) said the procedures are purely cosmetic and have no scientific benefits.

“If there’s no scientific basis then we ask ourselves ‘why are we performing them?’ Causing stress, pain and mutilation of some of these animals.”

Other provinces such as British Columbia and Nova Scotia have already banned declawing.

The new rules won’t come into effect right away, but the ABVMA is hopeful they’ll be in place by this summer.

 

With files from CityNews and the Canadian Press