BOSTON (WWLP) – A bill proposed in the Boston State House would ban declawing cats in the Commonwealth if signed into law.

State Senator Mark Montigny from New Bedford proposed the bill and along with local State Representative Brian Ashe and State Senator Ryan Fattman. If signed into law, no person would be allowed to perform any declawing procedures of an animal unless for certain reasons, such as therapeutic reasons.

Declawing an animal means to perform a procedure that removes any portion of the paw in order to remove the claw. Nail filing, trimming or nail caps are not considered a form of declawing.

If passed, violators of the bill could be fined up to $1,000 on a first offense, $1,500 on a second offense, and $2,500 on a third or higher offense.

Currently, there are only two states in the country that have banned declawing cats, Maryland and New York. More than 40 countries have banned these types of procedures. This isn’t the first time the bill has been proposed in Massachusetts, a similar bill was proposed in 2019.