Dr. Earl Mummert, who has done declaws for much of the last half-century in Groton, Conn., says, "My own cats were always declawed. And the main reason is that we have a lot of nice furniture and cats, invariably, no matter how many scratching posts you like to give them, still prefer the arms of your chairs."

The Animal Care Health Center in Madison, Ala., advises on its website that "Declawing should not be a first line of defense against scratching behavior in cats." Yet, the site says, "If your cat's damage is making you frustrated...visit us today for cat declawing services." One of the vets, Dr. Olivia Mann, says she "doesn't enjoy" doing such surgeries. However, she explains, "One of my clients was elderly and immunocompromised, and cats have a lot of bacteria on their claws. In such situations, where either this elderly woman gets to keep her cat who is declawed or the cat has to be re-homed or euthanized, I'll do the declaw."

The country's largest provider of veterinary services, Mars, Inc., with over 2,200 animal hospital locations across the U.S., has opted out of declawing. The Mars position paper states: "Feline scratching and nail sharpening are normal behaviors and the removal of nails has been shown to lead to chronic pain and, in some cases, to cause long-term behavioral issues."

More than a dozen states have sought to ban the practice but only two, New York and Maryland, have succeeded, while a third, Virginia, recently enacted a version of the law that critics say contains many loopholes. Globally, nearly two dozen countries—including England, Australia, and Japan—have prohibited or severely restricted veterinarians from performing onychectomies.

The American Veterinary Medical Association, which long opposed efforts to outlaw declawing, has modified its stance, saying it now "discourages" the procedure and "encourages the use of alternatives." Yet AVMA representatives and surrogates continue to show up in state houses and local council rooms to lobby against declawing legislation.

Typical is what happened in Illinois, where Democrat Barbara Hernandez, who adopted a cat named Frida at a local shelter two years ago, introduced legislation to stop declawing. "It's an unnecessary procedure," she says, "that individuals put their cats through because they don't want them to damage their furniture."

Her bill was supported by eight groups, including the Illinois Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and was opposed by just one organization, the Illinois branch of the AVMA, which supplied what it called a written "template" for its members. "I'm concerned that this bill will compromise my ability to uphold my medical oath," it says, "and will needlessly put cats' lives at risk."

Such "risk," according to the document, could occur if an ill or elderly person feared being scratched and opted to euthanize their cat. "My argument," counters Hernandez, "is that maybe the individual should not have a cat and maybe find a safer animal." Her bill was approved in the House but has been stalled for a year in the Senate.

In New Hampshire, Republican Mike Bordes, who describes himself as "a champion for common sense values," authored a bill that mandates, "No person shall remove the claws of a cat for cosmetic or aesthetic reasons or for reasons of convenience in keeping or handling the cat." "I have cats myself," he says. "The practice of declawing cats is a cruel, torturous procedure." His bill passed in the House last year but died in the Senate.

Rarely discussed in public debates is the economic factor. The makers of a new documentary, "American Cats: The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly," estimate that onychectomies bring in $1 billion annually for U.S. veterinarians. The film was funded by the nonprofit Paw Project, whose founder, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, has spent several decades working to halt declaw surgery, beginning with the nation's first ban in West Hollywood in 2003.

"I honestly thought veterinarians would be happy not to have to declaw," she recalls, "but these people were pissed. Then it came to me: I don't work for veterinarians; I work for cats, and no cats are mad at me for banning declawing. It was then and there that I decided to make this my life's work."

Part of that effort is to educate people about the effects of declawing that go beyond pain and suffering for the animal. "For instance," she explains, "declawed cats bite more and use the litter box less. These behaviors arise because they have no claws to defend themselves, so they have to resort to biting, and because it hurts their amputated toe stubs to dig in the sand, so they stop using the litter box."

For many years, Conrad's most vocal opponent was now-retired vet Dr. Peter Weinstein, who ran the large Southern California chapter of the AVMA. In a 2009 newsletter he described the declaw campaign organized by Conrad and her supporters as a "terrorist attack." I asked him if his position has changed. "I feel that declawing should be reserved for very limited situations," he said. "What we have seen over time is that veterinarians have, in many cases, policed themselves regarding the performance of declawing procedures. So my mantra is ‘Educate, don't legislate.'"

Additionally vexing when it comes to declawing is the matter of animal rights—including the basic question of whether they actually have any. "Pets are family members in my eyes," Weinstein insists. "The ultimate goal is to keep the pet with the family."

Would you advocate cutting off the toes of a family member?

"It's a great question. I think that's when you sit down and have a discussion with the pet owner about what they can do to make sure they decrease the risk of being injured by the pet. Maybe it's wearing long sleeves."

There are other practical remedies, most notably the application of plastic "nail caps" by a vet or groomer. Costing an average of $25 for all four paws, the coverings last about six weeks before a new set is needed. Less expensive versions are marketed for in-home application and, according to the National Cat Groomers Initiative, they "do not interfere with the extension and retraction of the nails, allowing normal behavior while still preventing damage from scratching."

Despite efforts to curb the practice, the number of onychectomies performed annually in the U.S. has remained about the same. "Now that the ethical veterinarians are giving it up," Conrad observes, "other veterinarians are seeing it as a business opportunity and they're getting more business for doing something that's so egregious." Todd Bieber, who directed "American Cats," concludes, "After two years of research I'm left with the realization that declawing is barbaric, and no economic or political considerations make it any less so."

In New Hampshire, Rep. Bordes intends to take another crack at legislation to ban declawing. Those in the state senate who vote on the measure will have to do so while gazing at a towering painting by Abbott Thayer that adorns their chamber. It depicts a young Daniel Webster on his knees, studying a copy of the newly ratified Constitution, accompanied by his butterscotch colored cat.

(c) Peter Funt. This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.