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Hi,
I've got a rather odd question regarding cat adoption policies. So, I
live in Massachusetts, and I'd really like to adopt a kitten. The
kitten would be an indoor cat (always) and I want to have it declawed.
This is a very sensitive issue, I realize. As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat (or they'll take it away in one
of the surprise visits that I also have to agree to). Is this legal?
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back? I'm trying to find a
kitten elsewhere, but now I'm quite curious what the legality of this
issue is. Thanks for your help in advance!
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On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:07:32 -0400, juliano_paul@yahoo.com (Paul) in
misc.legal.moderated, wrote the following:
<poster wishes to adopt a kitten, with intent to declaw it.>
As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat (or they'll take it away in one
of the surprise visits that I also have to agree to). Is this legal?
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back? I'm trying to find a
kitten elsewhere, but now I'm quite curious what the legality of this
issue is. Thanks for your help in advance!
Most animal adoption agencies of my acquaintance have adopted the
position that declawing a cat constitutes abuse of the animal. Since
there is no medical reason to declaw a cat, and to do so leaves the
animal defenseless in terms of defending itself or fleeing a predator
(such as a dog), animal adoption societies feel that this condition in
their contract upon which they can insist, as part of their assurances
from you that you will treat the animal humanely.
Since most animal adoption societies take the responsibility to assuring
that any animal it adopts to the public is treated humanely, their
proviso is legal as part of their contract with you.
Merely arguing that the cat will always be an inside cat still does not
alleviate the responsibility for caring for the cat in a humane manner
in the animal adoption organisation's opinion. Their proviso in this
issue arises from medical studies and anecdotal evidence from owners
which indicate that declawed cats rarely recover from the trauma of
having their claws removed, and often become skittish and
psychologically damaged from the procedure. It is for this reason the
CFA and other cat humane associations condemn declawing, and in some
countries, such as Great Britain, it is actually illegal to declaw a cat
for humane reasons.
As a long-time cat owner myself, and an owner of an adopted cat who was
declawed before I acquired it, I can attest that declawing is done more
for the convenience of the owner rather than for the well-being of the
animal, and it does affect the animal for the rest of its life.
If you will reconsider the declawing and have either the adoption agency
(or your vet) show you show to properly clip the cat's claws on a
periodic basis (usually no more often than once a month), I think you
will find that the cat will withstand this procedure with a minimum of
fuss, and still be able to maintain its defensive mechanisms.
If you are concerned about your furniture (which is the argument of many
people who wish to declaw their cats), I would suggest purchase of a
small cat tree for stropping from any pet store (or even from Wal-Mart
or the like), and encourage your kitten to use it any time it needs to
strafe its claws (which they do to clean and slough off older nail
sheaths, BTW).
--
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, J.D.
"Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is
left free to combat it."
(Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801)
DISCLAIMER:
Not a practicing attorney, and no attorney-client relationship
is created. This response is for discussion purposes only. It
isn't meant to be legal advice. If you wish legal advice, seek
out an attorney in your own state who is familar with your
state's laws and applications thereof.
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I've got a rather odd question regarding cat adoption policies...
As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat... Is this legal?
I think you mean, is it enforceable? (There are no contract police who will
swoop down and bust the adoption agency for putting an illegal term in its
contract.)
I can think of no reason why it would not be enforceable. The part about
agreeing to surprise visits is new to me, and that might be found
unenforceable as a violation of your right to privacy; but in any case I
think they are putting these clauses in their contracts to emphasize a
point, and not because they seriously intend to enforce their "rights."
Now, about your plans. You're correct that declawing cats is a sensitive
issue. It is legal in most places, and many people do it. Not so many
decades ago it was legal in most places to sterilize people whom the state
considered "feeble minded," and many states did it. Did that make it morally
acceptable?
You mentioned that _every_ adoption agency you investigated forbids this
practice. Have you considered this as feedback?
Would you consider cutting off your child's fingers and toes to keep it from
getting into mischief? That is what you are proposing to do to a cat, in
both an anatomical and a practical sense. Cats rely on their claws to
manipulate the objects in their world, as well as to defend themselves and
to shred your furniture.
I urge you to reconsider your plans. It is entirely feasible to keep cats
that are not declawed without significant damage to your household; I have
been doing it for nearly 20 years. It just takes a little more effort and
willingness to deal with the cat on its own terms. If you can't see your way
to doing this, perhaps you should get some other type of animal.
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[cc'd to previous poster; follow-ups in newsgroup suggested]
"Paul" <juliano_paul@yahoo.com> wrote in misc.legal.moderated:
As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat (or they'll take it away in one
of the surprise visits that I also have to agree to). Is this legal?
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back?
Yes it is, but that doesn't make it illegal.
A can sell something to B with conditions. For instance, you could
sell farm land to a land trust with the proviso that it must always
be available for public use. (Courts sometimes invalidate these
restrictions if there's a problem with a particular restriction, not
because the whole idea of selling something with restrictions has a
problem.)
In the case of pet adoption, the restriction on declawing is, as you
know, an issue of proper treatment of the animal. No judge is going
to invalidate such a restriction, because it's not unreasonable on
its face. (Reasonable people might disagree: you think the no-
declawing people are wrong, but you can't argue that their
restriction is so unreasonable that no reasonable person should be
expected to comply.)
Now, what you can do to comply with the legal requirement is to use
a product called <http://www.softpaws.com> Soft Paws. It's
individual plastic sheaths that you slip over the cat's claws.
According to the Web site, the animals don't mind them at all, and
your furniture is protected. (Disclaimer: I have no experience with
this product.)
--
If you e-mail me from a fake address, your fingers will drop off.
I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
legal on the net, always verify it on your own, in light of your
particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
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Paul wrote:
[pet adoption agencies demand a contract saying no declawing of cats and
random inspections]
Is this legal?
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back? I'm trying to find a
kitten elsewhere, but now I'm quite curious what the legality of this
issue is. Thanks for your help in advance!
I can see nothing illegal about that clause. There also would be nothing
necesarily illegal about a contract saying if you buy a car you must use
it in certain ways. The problem in both cases is how can the seller
enforce the contract.
A contract only needs to have two criteria to be legal. There must be a
meeting of the minds or agreement on terms and consideration or payment.
Since the pet adoption agencies' contracts seem to me to have both, the
agreement restricting you seems to me to be valid. There are many
exceptions to valid contracts such as if one is unconscionable or againt
the public good, but I don't see these exceptions applying.
-paul
ianal
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On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:07:32 -0400 Paul <juliano_paul@yahoo.com> whittled these
words:
Hi,
I've got a rather odd question regarding cat adoption policies. So, I
live in Massachusetts, and I'd really like to adopt a kitten. The
kitten would be an indoor cat (always) and I want to have it declawed.
This is a very sensitive issue, I realize. As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat (or they'll take it away in one
of the surprise visits that I also have to agree to). Is this legal?
Probably. You can agree by contract to do just about anything - OK with a
lot of caveats. But essentially yes. There are been cases where clauses
requiring certain standards of care after placement have been enforced,
and others where it failed.
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back?
Theoretically that is possible if that is whwat you agreed to. There is
always the porblem of determining compliance, and rememdies for breach.
Those goes to the practicality of enforcing your promise.
Some of the factors that make it possible for this to be legal is (1) the
standard for breach of contract is readily deterimined (2) the remedy is
reasomnably related to promisee's purpose is extracting the promoise (3)
the rememdy is both limited and certain - it leaves little room for
question (4) parties are essentially equal in bargaining position - there
are inumerable sources for kittens many of which have no regard whatsoever
for their future. If anything the adoption agencies are in the lesser
bargaining position as there are usually far more kittens than available
adoptive homes.
I'm trying to find a
kitten elsewhere, but now I'm quite curious what the legality of this
issue is. Thanks for your help in advance!
I'm sure the full answer is going to be depends on your state law. There
are many options to you. The most practicable would be to adopt a cat
which is already declawed. You get what you want and you make no promiese
you don't intend to keep.
--
Diane Blackman
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Hi,
I've got a rather odd question regarding cat adoption policies. So, I
live in Massachusetts, and I'd really like to adopt a kitten. The
kitten would be an indoor cat (always) and I want to have it declawed.
This is a very sensitive issue, I realize. As I searched through
many of the adoption websites in my area, I noticed that each and
every one of them had a clause in the adoption form/contract that
states that I can never declaw the cat (or they'll take it away in one
of the surprise visits that I also have to agree to). Is this legal?
I mean, isn't that like selling someone my car and telling them that
if they go over 75mph I get to take it back? I'm trying to find a
kitten elsewhere, but now I'm quite curious what the legality of this
issue is. Thanks for your help in advance!
That's an interesting one. On the face of it, yes, this contractual
provision appears legal. Could you possibly challenge it in court and
have it struck down as unconscionable or void? Yes. What would you
need to do that? An expensive lawyer and thousands of dollars to pay
him, with only a slight chance of convincing a court that the
provision should not be enforced. Bottom line: you will probably not
get out of this contract if you decide to enter into it and then break
it. Such a sale would be an arms-length transaction between two equal
parties who are free to contract or not contract with each other. If
you don't like the terms, you can buy from another party.
And for what it's worth, I very much like this idea because declawing
cats is a horrendously cruel and painful procedure. I wish it were
simply illegal in my state, my libertarian instincts be damned.
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I've got a rather odd question regarding cat adoption policies. So, I
live in Massachusetts, and I'd really like to adopt a kitten
The reason you "adopt" the cat rather than buying it outright is to make it
easier for the humane society to intervene if you abuse the cat. Personally, I
think declawing a cat is abusive. But that's just my opinion.
If you really really really want a mutilated cat, you can adopt one when one is
available at the humane society. It will have to be an adult cat, of course---
but your new kitten will be an adult cat in a few months from now anyway!
*****
Tim Horrigan <horrigan@aol.com>
*****
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