This bill adds a new section to chapter 18.92 RCW that makes it unlawful for any person engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine to perform a declawing procedure on a cat except when done for a defined "therapeutic purpose." The provision also expressly preempts any county, city, town, or other political subdivision ordinance regulating declawing of cats. The bill identifier is H-3169.1 Substitute House Bill 1904, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session, read first time 01/27/26. The bill defines "cat" as any domesticated species of the family Felidae and excludes wild or nonnative felids. It defines "declawing procedure" to include onychectomy, dactylectomy, phalangectomy, any procedure that removes a portion of the paw or digit to remove a claw, tendonectomy, or any procedure that cuts or modifies a tendon to prohibit normal claw movement, and any procedure that prevents normal claw function; it excludes nail filing, nail trimming, and placement of temporary nail caps. "Therapeutic purpose" is limited to actions intended to address an existing or recurring infection, disease, injury, or abnormal condition in the claw, nail bed, or toe bone that jeopardizes the animal's health and expressly excludes cosmetic, aesthetic, or convenience reasons. This is a new state law creating a regulatory prohibition on a specific veterinary procedure with a state preemption of local rules. Affected parties identified are persons practicing veterinary medicine, local governments whose ordinances are preempted, and cats as defined. The extracted text indicates the act is "prescribing penalties," but no penalty provisions, enforcement mechanisms, exact RCW section number, effective date, or any licensing, reporting, inspection, or disciplinary procedures are included in the provided facts.

If enacted, veterinarians in Washington would be prohibited from performing declawing surgeries on domestic cats except when the procedure is medically necessary to treat a specific infection, disease, injury, or other abnormal condition that threatens the cat’s health. Routine or convenience declawing for cosmetic reasons or handling is no longer allowed, while non-surgical options like nail trimming, filing, or temporary nail caps remain permitted; this will remove an elective procedure some clinics currently charge for and limit owners’ options to non-surgical alternatives or medically justified surgery. Counties, cities, towns, and other local governments would lose the ability to set their own rules about declawing because the state law would override local ordinances. Important implementation details are missing from the extracted text—there is no information here about penalties, enforcement, when the ban would take effect, or any changes to licensing or disciplinary procedures—so how violations would be handled and the timing of the change are unclear.