A friend of ours recently had her kitten declawed. I don’t understand this: why is declawing cats considered a normal, acceptable thing to do?

If a puppy chews on your shoes or sofa cushions, do you have its teeth ripped out? If your dog scratches at the door to be let in or out, do you have it declawed? No: you train it not to do those things.

But if a cat scratches furniture or scratches people in play, it may be declawed. Why? Because cats can’t be trained? That’s just plain wrong: all animals can be trained, you just need to find out what motivates them.

So why the double standard?