CALIFORNIA, USA — Starting Jan. 1, 2026, veterinarians will be prohibited from declawing cats unless the procedure is medically needed and benefits the cat’s health. A violation of the act is considered a crime and will allow the Veterinary Medical Board to deny, revoke, or suspend licenses or registrations. Veterinarians could face fines if they are non-compliant.
What is Assembly Bill 867?
Introduced by Assemblymember Alex Lee, AB 867 bans cats from being declawed across California. The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Oct. 9 this year and marked a historic milestone for animal welfare organizations and advocates.
Lee’s office said that veterinarians overwhelmingly oppose cat declawing when it is not medically necessary. Cat declawing involves amputating the cat’s toe bones or severing the tendons controlling their paws. It is a surgical procedure that could lead to debilitating health effects and increase the chances of cats developing behaviors such as biting, aggression and litter box avoidance.
Sponsored by The Paw Project, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Humane World for Animals, and Humane Veterinary Medical Alliance, California now joins a growing number of states, including New York, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts, to ban this practice.
Why is Assembly Bill 867 needed?
Unless medically needed, AB 867 prevents unnecessary procedures. According to Dr. Jennifer Conrad, Founder and Director of The Paw Project, an organization that has been working to end declawing for over 25 years through education and legislation, this procedure has been proven to harm cats and provides no benefits to people.
“Declawing isn’t a manicure – it’s an amputation that needlessly harms cats to spare sofas,” said Jennifer Hauge, Senior Legislative Affairs Manager at Animal Legal Defense Fund, in a press release.
According to a study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, cited by Lee’s office, declawing is associated with numerous long-term effects, including overgrooming, chronic back pain, residual bone fragments and mobility issues. As scratching is considered a natural cat behavior, people can turn to non-surgical alternatives such as nail trimming, soft claw caps, and behavioral training to address unwanted behaviors, rather than leaning towards this surgical procedure.
More information on Assembly Bill 867 can be found here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB867
