Last Monday night, I attended the City Council meeting to voice my support for the declaw ban in Culver City.
I was appalled and disgusted by the inaccurate and self-serving presentations made by veterinarians Rene Johnson, Dean Gebroe and Larry Kidwell.
These vets showed clear indifference to the terrible suffering of the many animals they have already declawed.
It was clear they were only concerned about losing this surgical procedure as a revenue source.
Rene Johnson even stated to the City Council that the ban would affect veterinarians’ bottom line.
I would not be surprised if these vets also perform debarking in their pursuit of revenue.
Culver City residents need to be assured that the vets they choose have animal welfare as their primary concern.
I found it interesting that Dr. Dean Gebroe boasted of having six declawed cats as his companion animals and how they get along with his Mastiff.
How is it he was allowed to ruin the lives of six cats, when the Municipal Code restricts ownership to three cats? I also would be interested to know if Dr. Gebroe's Mastiff is a rescue or one that he purposely bought from a breeder.
I applaud the City Council for rightly rejecting these vets contention that declawing is merely a benign procedure.
It is worthy to inform denizens of Culver City that the ban still needs formal adoption and will be addressed once more by the City Council in this evening’s meeting.
Mayor Andy Weissman nearly succeeded in derailing the “yes” votes on the ban by City Council members but fortunately, those members were able to prevail in convincing Mayor Weissman of the importance in doing the right thing in helping to make Culver City a town in which cruelty will not abide.
Ms. Flurry may be contacted at angelaflurry@aol.com
