Canada

Scratching is part claw maintenance and part territorial marking / decorating. And it feels good for them! If you catch a cat scratching the furniture, scolding them will usually get them to stop. Most cats will quit scratching the furniture entirely if you give them more appealing things to scratch. It has to be a good height, very stable, and have a texture they like.

Simply clipping the tips of the claws goes a long way to prevent furniture destruction, when combined with a scratching/climbing tree. Some cats like sisal but others prefer carpet on the posts. I have a routine with my present cat where she knows if she jumps to a certain place she'll get a couple Dental Treats, but before she jumps I briefly check her front paws. If there's a longer, sharper nail, I clip it, just the tip. Then I put up the treat. That way she never has to put up with more than one or two snips. I use a regular toenail clipper, but a big sharp quality one. And turn it because claws are taller than they are wide.

Cat nail caps are not a perfect answer to this problem, but still an infinitely better one than amputation (please don't use the term declawing as it's extremely misleading).

There's also ways to encourage your cat to use scratch pads and the like instead of your furniture (cats hate citrus for example, so a bit of that where they want to scratch and they'll find a new spot immediately).

I wonder if and how many get put down simply because fewer adopt them when de-clawing is banned.

I wonder about this, but in regards to the housing crisis. It’s hell trying to find a new place to live, but trying to find an affordable place that ALSO allows pets? As someone looking for a home myself, it seems like almost everywhere has “No pets, no smoking” as a rule.

I don’t have a pet so it doesn’t apply to me now, but I know people stuck in a shitty apartment that’s falling apart, just because they adopted a puppy (of unknown breed origins) a few years ago. That puppy grew, and now even places that allow pets say that he’s too large to be permitted.

I would love to adopt a pet. But this human housing situation spells bad news for strays and shelter pets everywhere.