Position Statements and Endorsements

The American Animal Hospital Association is opposed to the practice known as debarking, canine devocalization, or ventriculocordectomy. Devocalization for inappropriate and excessive vocalization is often ineffective in achieving the desired results, can present risks to the animal, and can deprive canines of the ability to perform a normal behavior. Professional corrective techniques including environmental manipulation, behavioral modification, medical therapy, or a combination of these techniques should be explored.

Exceptions to this statement would be in the rare case of airway obstruction or laryngeal paralysis, which cannot be addressed through other surgical procedures. When deemed medically necessary, devocalization should only be performed by qualified, licensed veterinarians.

Resources:

• Canine Devocalization Position Statement, American Veterinary Medical Association 
• Devocalization of Dogs Position Statement, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, 2016 

Last revised by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors June 2021. 

The American Animal Hospital Association strongly opposes the elective declawing of domestic cats and believes it is veterinarians’ obligation to provide educational tools and guidance for effective alternative training programs for owners.

Background

Scratching is a normal feline behavior. Cats scratch to:

• Condition their claws by removing old nail sheaths
• Stretch and exercise their bodies
• Communicate visually and through scent left behind from glands on the paws

Veterinarians and cat owners must work together to establish appropriate scratching behaviors by:

• Providing suitable implements for normal scratching behavior, such as scratching posts (many varieties available), cardboard, wood, carpet, or fabric remnants affixed to stationary objects. Implements should be tall or long enough to allow full stretching and be firmly anchored to provide necessary resistance to scratching.
• Making appropriate scratching objects more attractive than furniture, which often includes placement near the current object being used and in favorite resting areas.
• Training cats through positive reinforcement to use appropriate scratching sites by employing treats, catnip, verbal praise, and/or hormone attractants.
• Trimming cats’ nails often.
• Considering artificial nail caps.
• Avoiding rough play; owners should not use their own body parts (feet, hands) as play toys.
• Using furniture protectors as needed to deter unwanted scratching.

Veterinarians are strongly encouraged to fully educate owners as to why declawing cats is no longer supported. The following points are integral to understanding why declawing is no longer viewed as a reasonable procedure:

• Declawing is not just removal of the claw; it is an amputation of the third bone in each toe.
• There are inherent risks and complications with any surgical procedure including, but not limited to anesthetic complications, analgesic side effects, hemorrhage, infection, and pain.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not list declawing as a means of preventing disease in either healthy or immunocompromised individuals.

Recent retrospective studies have found significant increase (three to seven times more likely) of the following in declawed compared to non-declawed cats: chronic back pain, inappropriate urination, biting, and overgrooming.

This statement does not apply to claw removal when medically necessary to treat conditions such as tumors or chronic infections. If declawing is performed, the procedure must follow current best practices for amputation, including multimodal pain control before, during, and after for an appropriate length of time after surgery.

Resources: 

• Pain and Adverse Behavior in Declawed Cats,” Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2017
• Long-Term Pain in Cats,” Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2010 

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors October 2003. Revised October 2009 and August 2015. Last revised June 2021. 

The American Animal Hospital Association is opposed to ear cropping or tail docking for cosmetic purposes as well as for breed standard purposes. More than 20 breed standards currently call for tail docking or ear cropping, but we recommend the removal of these breed standards and encourage our member veterinarians to discontinue such elective procedures in their hospitals.

Resources:

• Ear Cropping and Tail Docking Position Statement, American Veterinary Management Association, 2008
• Cosmetic Alteration Position Statement, Canadian Veterinary Management Association, 2014

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors March 1993. Revised November 1998 and October 2009. Last revised June 2021. 

The American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) purpose is to simplify the journey toward excellence for veterinary practices. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of veterinary care.  AAHA opposes the introduction of the midlevel practitioner (MLP) position which allows the ability for this position to diagnose, create treatment plans and perform surgery.

We are concerned about:

• Training/Education for Scope of Practice: Inadequate education and training of the midlevel practitioner poses concern for significant risks to patients regarding safety and quality of medicine and surgery.
• Concerns with Lack of Regulation / Licensing / Prescriptive Authority:  The addition of midlevel practitioners creates unnecessary regulatory burdens.  There is no established licensing or testing to evaluate the graduate’s readiness for practice which can lead to unintended fatal errors, increased morbidity / mortality and more liability for veterinarians and veterinary practices.  It also creates significant challenges to prescriptive authority and safety of patients such as in the timely delivery of emergency treatment during a surgical procedure.
• Devaluation of CrVT Roles / Diminishing Career Pathways: Creating a midlevel practitioner undermines and devalues the role of credentialed veterinary technicians (CrVT) leading to decreased recognition, compensation, and career advancement.  It poses overlapping roles and responsibilities creating barriers to an efficient and effective veterinary team. This further complicates the already tenuous retention issues the veterinary profession faces.

AAHA firmly believes that focusing on the advancement and utilization of credentialed veterinary technicians, rather than introducing a new tier of midlevel practitioners, is the most effective way to simplify the journey toward excellence for veterinary practices.  Increasing the capacity for care is best achieved by investing in the comprehensive integration and advancement of the clearly defined role of credentialed veterinary technicians in a team-based environment and supports the continued growth of members of our veterinary profession to deliver the best medicine to our patients and the communities we serve.

AAHA will continue to participate in industry-wide conversations surrounding the barriers to optimal technician utilization and is committed to ongoing support and development of this process.

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors October 2024. 

The American Animal Hospital Association supports the concept of neutering cats and dogs as young as eight weeks of age in order to help reduce the overpopulation issues that can be present in companion animals.

Veterinarians are encouraged to counsel their clients on aspects of responsible breeding, including prevention of unwanted litters, and should make recommendations based on an assessment of each individual patient.

Current scientific literature suggests both positive and negative medical and behavioral outcomes with early versus delayed sterilization in some breeds. This should be part of the discussion veterinarians have with clients when educating them about the risks and benefits of sterilization for pets.

Houlihan, Kendall E. 2017. “A literature review on the welfare implications of gonadectomy of dogs.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association May 15, 2017, volume 250, number 10: 1155–1166.

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors November 1994. Revised March 2010. Last revised January 2018. 

The American Animal Hospital Association is committed to continuing the search for more acceptable means to managing the population of homeless animals. North America’s animal shelters, both public and private, face the difficult decision to euthanize hundreds of thousands of homeless cats and dogs each year[1]. Veterinarians should work with and support shelter medicine programs to improve the health and wellbeing of animals in shelters, reduce relinquishment, improve overall access to care, promote the adoption of shelter animals, and support spay/neuter and behavior programs.

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors November 1994. Revised March 2010. Last revised June 2024

[1] https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/

The veterinarian-client-patient-relationship (VCPR) is the essential basis for interaction among veterinarians, their clients, and their patients.  It is critical to providing quality veterinary care and vital to animal welfare by allowing a veterinarian to regularly assess a pet’s entire physical status, family environment, and to regularly communicate with the owner. AAHA defines VCPR to require all of the following:

• The veterinarian has assumed responsibility for making medical judgments regarding the health of the patient and the need for medical treatment, and the client (owner or caretaker) has agreed to comply with the veterinarian’s instructions.
• The veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the patient to initiate at least a general or preliminary diagnosis of its medical condition. This means the veterinarian has physically examined the patient within the past 12 months, or more frequently as dictated by the age of the patient, medical condition or treatment therapy such as with controlled substances.
• The veterinarian is available for ongoing care of the patient or has arranged for emergency coverage or continuing care and treatment of the animal by an appropriate veterinary professional.
• The veterinarian maintains complete and legible medical records, including assessment and treatment plan, in such a way that another veterinarian will be able to proceed with the continuity of care and treatment of that patient.
  • Refer to the Medical Records Section of the AAHA Standards of Accreditation for detailed recommendations.
• In specific situations (e.g., rescue shelters, disaster response, hoarding intervention situations) “patient” may refer to a group of animals and “sufficient knowledge of the patient” means the veterinarian:
  • conducts medically appropriate and timely visits to the facility where the animals are housed,
  • conducts examination of representative patients/animals and review of medical records and laboratory or diagnostic procedure records, and
  • consults with those individuals providing care to the animals regarding ongoing health management programs.

Similar to the position adopted by the AVMA, we believe that Telehealth plays a role in augmenting the VCPR, but only within the context of a previously established physical examination. With the exception of emergency teletriage and poison control services, AAHA, like the AVMA, opposes remote consulting using telemedicine, offered directly to the public when the intent is to diagnose and/or treat a patient in the absence of a VCPR. Notably, we feel that telehealth tools such as video consultation, telephone consultations, text messaging or other online platforms should only be used by a veterinary business to aid in the diagnosis, prescription and formation of treatment plans if the pet has been examined on the physical premises of that veterinary practice or by a mobile practitioner in the pet’s  home within the previous 12 months.

Telemedicine and the VCPR relationship may change in the future with changes in technology but the veterinary profession must respond carefully to protect the integrity and ethics of the VCPR as well as to ensure good animal welfare.

Resources: 

• AVMA Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) 
• AVMA state VCPR definitions and provisions 
• Canada Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationships (VCPR)
• AVMA Client FAQs
• AVMA VCPR Provisions
• VCPR State Laws (as of April 2020) 

Adopted by the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors September 2019.