G^r? NOVA SCOTIAVETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Registrar's Office 15 Cobequid Road, Lower Sackvllle, NS B4C 2M9 Phone: (902) 865-1876 Fax: (902) 865-2001 E-mail:
[email protected] September 24, 2018 Dear Chair, and committee members, My name is Dr Melissa Burgoyne. I am a small animal veterinarian and clinic owner in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. I am currently serving my 6th year as a member of the NSVMA Council and currently, I am the past president on the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association Council. I am writing today to express our support of Bill 27 and what it represents to support and advocate for those that cannot do so for themselves. As veterinarians, we all went into veterinary medicine because we want to.help animals, prevent and alleviate suffering. We want to reassure the public that veterinarians are humane professionals who are committed to doing what is best for animals, rather than being motivated by financial reasons. We have Dr. Martell-Moran's paper (see attached) related to declawing, which shows that there are significant and negative effects on behavior, as well as chronic pain. His conclusions indicate that feline declaw which is the removal of the distal phalanx, not just the nail, is associated with a significant increase in the odds of adverse behaviors such as biting, aggression, inappropriate elimination and back pain. The CVMA, AAFP, AVMA and Cat Healthy all oppose this procedure. The Cat Fancier's Association decried it 6 years ago. Asfor the other medically unnecessary cosmetic surgeries, I offer the following based on the Mills article.