In what I hope to be the first in a series of similar laws, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted to ban the declawing of cats.

Known as onychectomy, cat declawing is a procedure which mutilates a cat's paws by removing the first joint of each toe.

I've long considered this to be pure animal cruelty and a completely unnecessary procedure.

I have had cats in my life for as long as I can remember, and declawing them has simply never been an option.  I live comfortably with four cats right now and don't fear being wounded by them.  I also do not worry about furniture being used for claw sharpening.

It's a matter of patience and training and not a matter of medical mutilation from the Dark Ages.

Cats may be inherently independent, but that does not mean they can't be trained.  By trained I do not mean beaten and abused for scratching a person or piece of furniture, either, but rather a simple technique of reinforcing good habits and negative feedback for bad habits — followed by positive reinforcement of the corresponding good habit.

With four cats in the house, all of whom have their claws, you would expect my roommate and I to be bleeding at all times and to have furniture that is shredded.

Not so!

The kids understand where and what they can scratch, and, even when playing rough with one of us, they are gentle enough not to cause too much damage.  Shallow scratches are the worst wounds we've suffered from.

I applaud West Hollywood for this maneuver and hope that other cities, municipalities and counties follow their lead.  Perhaps we can do away with this barbaric practice altogether.