Since it was banned to have your cat declawed in Quebec, feline owners are turning to Ontario to have their pets operated on. And clinics are open to welcoming them.
In recent days, the representative of the Duty posed as a client looking for a clinic to declaw a four-month-old cat. “Is it a problem that I’m from Quebec?” was asked at a veterinary clinic in the Niagara region. “Not at all. We just recently had someone from Quebec come in to have their cat declawed.”
Another clinic, this time in the Cornwall area, also agreed to give us an appointment. “I live in Quebec, but they can’t do this procedure here anymore, that’s why I’m looking for…” “A veterinary hospital in Ontario?” the receptionist added. “Yes, we can give you an appointment,” she added.
By email, a third clinic, located in the suburbs of Toronto, also agreed to give us an appointment. To have a cat declawed in one of these three clinics, it costs between $600 and $1200.
Persevering Quebecers
Last February, the Regulation respecting the welfare and safety of domestic companion animals and equines came into force in Quebec, banning several surgical procedures, including declawing of cats, as well as devocalization, tail docking and ear cropping of dogs.
Declawing prevents felines from damaging their owners’ sofas and curtains. As for operations for dogs, they are of an aesthetic nature or to prevent them from being noisy.
Ontario is the last Canadian province that still allows this type of operation, but few veterinary clinics still offer these services. Nevertheless, some Quebecers are showing perseverance.
Ontario clinics located near the Quebec border say they are regularly solicited. “We receive several calls a day [de Québécois] ” says Tracy Jodoin, customer service agent at Lancaster Veterinary Clinic, located about a 15-minute drive from the Quebec border. “Declawing is the most popular request. But we tell them we haven’t done it for 10 years.”
Another receptionist at an Ottawa clinic says she gets calls from Quebecers about once a week. “It seems like they’re doing a round of calls to see who’s doing [ces opérations]. But we don’t do it. And we strongly discourage pet owners from doing it,” she said, specifying that she did not want to be named because she is not authorized to speak to the media.
A third clinic in Eastern Ontario, which also no longer performs these operations, also told us that it is occasionally contacted by Quebecers, the vast majority of the time for declawing cats.
Little information
The College of Veterinarians of Ontario and the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association say they have no data or information on Quebecers who travel to the neighbouring province to obtain this type of operation.
But there’s nothing stopping an Ontario veterinarian from performing these procedures on animals from outside the province, says Karen Ward, chief veterinary officer at the Toronto Humane Society, an animal welfare organization.
“It doesn’t really matter where the owner is from,” she says, adding that she is nonetheless opposed to these “medically unnecessary” operations, which are “neither benign nor harmless” to animals. “It’s disappointing,” she says, that Ontario attracts Quebecers for this reason.
Get around
Me Sophie Gaillard, director of animal protection and legal and government affairs at the Montreal SPCA, also said she was “disappointed to learn” that Quebecers are trying to circumvent the ban.
Declawing is the amputation of the third phalanx of a cat’s toes, which causes physical and psychological harm, she said. “It creates chronic pain and prevents cats from expressing natural behaviors like climbing, perching and scratching.”
The fact that Quebecers are turning to Ontario “indicates that we must continue to take up our pilgrim’s staff to explain why these surgeries are prohibited,” believes Dr.r Gaston Rioux, president of the Order of Veterinarians of Quebec.
Currently, the application guide for the Regulation respecting the welfare and safety of domestic animals and equines specifies that it prohibits “travelling to another province or another country to have your cat declawed or to have the ears of a litter of puppies cropped”.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) says it has received complaints about prohibited operations that have been carried out since February. But MAPAQ did not want to specify whether these operations were carried out in the province or elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the Ministry cannot comment on specific cases,” the response was Duty.
In the event of an offence, the Animal Welfare and Safety Act provides for fines of $1,000 to $25,000 for individuals, and $2,000 to $50,000 in other cases. The MAPAQ says it conducts inspections at a “regular frequency” for establishments holding a permit or, otherwise, when it receives a complaint.
For their part, veterinarians are required to report to MAPAQ if they notice that an animal has undergone a prohibited operation. “When we talk about animal welfare, the veterinarian is required to report,” says Dr.r Rioux.
Prohibition on possession
Me Gaillard believes that if this practice of traveling outside Quebec’s borders – to Ontario or to American states – to have one’s animal operated on persists, other legislative measures could be considered.
“We could add a provision to the regulation that prohibits the ownership of an animal that was born after the ban came into force and that has undergone these surgeries,” she suggests. In Ireland, for example, it has been illegal since 2013 to have dogs’ ears cropped and, since 2023, to own a dog that has undergone this operation. “Irish people were crossing the border to go [faire tailler les oreilles de leur chien] elsewhere,” she notes.
According to the Dr Rioux says the problem could resolve itself if Ontario followed suit with other provinces. In 2020, a bill to ban these procedures was tabled at Queen’s Park, but it failed to pass. However, many voices continue to put pressure on the government.
The DD Karen Ward of the Toronto Humane Society believes such a ban could easily be included in Ontario’s Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act (PAW Act). “I hope we follow the example of the rest of the country. There are a lot of people working towards this. So I would say stay tuned.”