Why do you suppose the UK is so much more advanced than the US....?

Question

....when it comes to outlawing unnecessary and cruel procedures to animals?

For instance, I'm pretty sure that it's illegal to declaw cats, and I've just learned that they don't allow tail or ear cropping either.

Why do you suppose they're so much more advanced than the US in this respect?

(I hope this doesn't sound like I think the US is all that and a bag of chips and the UK is backward!)

Answer 1

Gallopin is right, stastically the British "put up with" the imposition of more (good & bad) laws than Americans will.

The British system of laws works in large part because the British response to a new law is usually a reluctant "M'kay", whereas typical Americans will say "Says who?"

Of course it's cruel to declaw a cat, but a law? Is that really necessary? What if you die in the front room, and the cat goes out the cat flap, can't catch anything, and starves to death? Isn't that cruel?

The way to improve the lot of animals is by social pressure, not by laws. Why do so few dog owners hit their dogs when they misbehave in public? Because they know someone would beat the snot out of them and take the dog!

Britain is a "nanny state" where too many people believe it is the government's job to make life "fair" and comfortable for everyone somehow....

Answer 2

It's a bit difficult to make general statements about the "law" of the "U.S." The overwhelming majority of laws that affect U.S. citizens are passed at the state level (not by the federal government), and these can vary dramatically from state to state. (Case in point: the death penalty is allowed in some states for murder, but not in others). Given this, I would guess that at least a couple of states have laws very similar to the UK's re: animal cruelty, while others do not. I would guess that it would depend greatly on whether the state's population is largely urban (New York) or rural (middle of the country) or both (Texas). Having not checked the statutes, I'm not sure, but this is one of those issues that seems unusually suited for a wide range of legislative treatments.

Answer 3

I prefer the way we do it here.. Granted, it would be nice to ban anything you felt distaste towards, but, that would mean accepting the banning of things you see nothing wrong with.
I am NOT a fan of declawing. But, there are some cats that are just so bad about it. There are cats that will sit and chew off soft paws. Just spend hours getting every single one of them off. Cats that don't just claw furniture, they claw the walls and pull trim pieces loose..
There's only a very, very small percentage of homes that would tolerate destruction like that on a daily basis. Chances are, those few homes are already at their cat limit. So, should the cat lose it's home or be euthanized because it claws? Or, should a highly qualified vet do the procedure as humanely as possible and send home the appropriate pain control medication and other items to make the cat more comfortable during it's recovery?
I've never had a cat of my own declawed and I've only met one cat that needed to be declawed in my opinion. He'd been returned to a kill shelter 4 times! For a plain brown adult tabby, he was darn lucky he got the first home, much less the next three. Each time he was returned for being destructive as the shelter didn't allow declawing. Where did those people get their next pets? Pet shops or free ads would be my guess since they didn't take another from the shelter even though the fee would've been waived. Apparently, the next time around, they wanted the freedom to declaw if it was needed..
I fostered the cat for awhile, and he was horrible. There's no way he could've found a home and kept it without being declawed. I have 6 cats in my home right now all trained to use cat furniture only, so I certainly know what I'm doing.
His option was euthanasia or declaw..
Not everything has a clear right and wrong answer.. The UK also has pit bulls banned and guns banned. Two other laws I very much oppose. But, people from the UK seem more willing to accept having much less in the way of rights. I don't want to be treated like a child who's parents tells them how to do everything. Obviously, laws should make it difficult for people who have been involved in illegal activity to get guns, but, banning them means that just the bad guys have them..
Same with the pit bulls.. The bans only ever seem to effect those doing things legally..
In other words, if it's illegal, you'll have some scum bag cutting off cat toes in a shed somewhere.

Answer 4

Gallopin should realise that the US citizen has far fewer rights than even we have in the UK. Land of the free is a joke. They always have to have some ID on them, are scared to slate their President and the only freedom they have is to blow each others heads off. Wise move?

Of course they are cruel. They have many hundreds of years to go before they are civilised. We left them too soon.

Answer 5

Well, they've been around a lot longer than we have. We are just a baby compared to the UK and the only thing we know is what they taught us. Maybe that's why we are the best of allies now.

Edit: Well, I seem to have missed the question again. About the declawing (that really hurts a cat and takes away their survival ability) and the tail or ear (ouch) cropping, I personally would not like to have it done to me.

Answer 6

Since there are products out there to make cat nails less sharp like Soft Claws®, and people can use common nail clippers to keep them trimmed, I personally can't find any reasonable justification for declawing a cat EVER. If that's what you want to do, then get a different pet, or better yet none at all. It's barbaric. I don't know anything about tail and ear cropping, though ear cropping might not be terrible if few nerves and blood vessels are involved. Still, I don't like the idea.

Answer 7

Probably the same way your government was proactive in taking your firearms away. They just passed a law they liked, and enforced it.
Forget rising up, should your Parliament start enacting laws against your civil liberties. They will be the only ones armed.
Laws in the US have to go through both houses and get signed by the president. Or he can veto, however congress may override his veto with another vote.

Answer 8

Just the way it goes i guess, america has had other things on their mind maybe? i didnt know it was illegal to declaw cats over here,not that i do but didnt realise that.

Answer 9

I wouldn't call that much more advanced. It's just different. I mean, the USA could do the same exact thing. I don't have a pet, therefore I don't worry about it.

Answer 10

Because people fight laws more in the US. People think that if there are certain laws like that, then the government will keep putting laws on everything.