After learning the truth about declawing house cats, Pride member Kendall Lanham of Indiana wanted to help educate others about this practice. For the PrideStrong Weeklong, Kendall took to Facebook to help The Paw Project, a California nonprofit that works to educate the public about the painful and crippling effects of declawing cats.

“They educated me about something that I didn’t know about,” Kendall said. “I didn’t know this when my dad declawed his cat, and had I known what this really does, I would have told him and prevented his cat from experiencing pain.”

Not only is this process painful, it can affect the cat’s entire life, Kendall said. The process can cause health issues and prevent the cat from interacting with other animals. Recently, one of her father’s cats passed away, leaving the declawed cat alone, she explained. Now her father is cautious about going out to adopt another clawed cat because he’s worried this current cat would not be able to defend herself. 

“If she hadn’t been declawed then he could go adopt a cat that was on the euthanasia list at one of our local shelters, and he would be saving a life,” she said.

During the week, Kendall scoured Facebook for information on declawing and posted it to her Facebook wall, connecting this information with her more than 600 online friends. Despite being thousands of miles away from this organization, Kendall still found a way to help a cause she truly believed in.

“I hope to see animals in better situations and hope to educate people on how to properly care for their animals.”

Reproduced with the volunteer’s permission.
Find more volunteer stories like this at PrideStrong.com