Veterinary medicine: cat declawing.

Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, establishes the California Veterinary Medical Board to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine, and specifies acts the performance of which constitutes the practice of veterinary medicine, surgery, and dentistry, including performing a surgical operation upon an animal. Existing law provides that nothing in the act prohibits a person from practicing veterinary medicine as a bona fide owner of one's own animals. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would include the performance of a tendonectomy, onychectomy, or any type of claw removal on a feline within the practice of veterinary medicine, surgery, and dentistry. The bill would require those procedures to be performed only for a therapeutic purpose, as defined, and would authorize the board to deny, revoke, or suspend a license or registration or assess a fine for performing those procedures for any reason other than a therapeutic purpose. This bill would exclude the performance of those procedures from the provisions authorizing a person to practice veterinary medicine as an owner of one's own animals. The bill would specify that the bill's provision shall not be interpreted to preempt a local ordinance adopted before January 1, 2026, limiting the performance of the feline declawing procedures identified in the bill. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime under the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 4827 and 4883 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1502 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1502 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.