Some folks made Christmas merry, while others are in need of making some serious New Year's resolutions to shape up:

• Kisses to hip international clothier Mango. The retailer will no longer sell fur or exotic-animal skins.
• Hisses to Essence magazine for featuring real animal pelts alongside their far more attractive—and humane—faux counterparts in a gallery of "opulent furs."
• Kisses to the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative for working to designate the waters surrounding the Cook Islands as a sanctuary where sharks won't have their fins cut off for soup.
• Hisses to San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini for sending disturbing Christmas cards showing his family standing alongside taxidermied animals.
• Kisses to the Seattle City Council for protecting animals in Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean by banning plastic bags from groceries and other retail stores, which can kill birds, turtles, and other marine animals when the bags wash into the water and animals ingest them or become entangled in them.
• Hisses to forever flip-flopping Drew Barrymore for betraying animals by ditching her vegetarian diet to please her boyfriend.
• Kisses to Israel for making cat declawing a crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a $20,000 fine.
• Hisses and gag reflexes to Wendy's for adding a $16 foie gras burger to the menu in its Japanese restaurants.

© David Thompson/ iStockphoto.com

Even while admitting to myself that I was probably well past the target age for Puss in Boots, I couldn't resist the allure of the swashbuckling, lady-killing feline hero. I wasn't disappointed. This movie has plenty for young and old alike, from madcap adventures to the hilarity of Antonio Banderas' smooth, romantic voice purring out of a tiny cat.

But the "legendary lover" has a softer side, which we get a glimpse of when his love interest, Kitty Softpaws, sorrowfully confesses that her claws were taken from her by a family she had thought loved her. Her emotional retelling of the story elicits sympathy from both Puss in Boots and the audience and will likely make people think twice about amputating their own cats' toes.

Kitty Softpaws has learned to make her misfortune work to her advantage as a cat burglar, but as the film makes clear, unless Fluffy's future plans involve a magic-bean heist, her claws belong right where they are meant to be: on her feet!

Puss in Boots is a delight for kids and for adults, who will chuckle at some of the kids-would-never-get-that jokes, and it's a must-see for anyone considering robbing a beanstalk—or a cat of his or her claws.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

When veterinarians gathered for the annual American Veterinary Medical Association conference in St. Louis, they were met by  members of the St. Louis Animal Rights Team (START), who wanted to know why the organization continues to support mutilating cats' paws to please their owners. PETA, START, and other groups have been taking the AVMA to task for years for its refusal to condemn declawing.

Declawing is not just an extreme manicure. It is 10 amputations of cats' toes, removing the last joint of each digit. In addition to enduring the excruciating pain of the surgery itself, declawed cats can have difficulty walking; experience weakening of the back, shoulder, and leg muscles; have been known to stop using the litterbox; and often become withdrawn, irritable, or aggressive.

Declawing cats to keep them from scratching is comparable to mutilating dogs' vocal chords to keep them quiet. Yet the cruel procedure of debarking is something that 92 percent of people oppose. We wouldn't lop off our children's fingers for getting into things or have our babies de-vocalized for crying, so why would we mutilate our companion animals? Nearly two dozen countries—including Australia, Japan, and England—have banned or restricted declawing, and many veterinarians refuse to perform this cruel surgery for the sake of human convenience.

While scratching is a natural and necessary feline behavior, there are many ways to protect furniture and belongings without resorting to having cats' toes chopped off. Providing suitable places to scratch—such as sisal, wood, or cardboard scratching posts—and protecting furniture with double-sided tape or covering cats' nails with Soft Paws nail covers are all easy and affordable options. (Find more tips in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You.)

If you know someone who is intent on acquiring a feline animal companion only to mutilate the cat's feet, please remind him or her that animal shelters are full of declawed cats who have been discarded and who would love to have a home.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Crazy cat ladies of America, you have some explaining to do. According to a recent Associated Press poll, 55 percent of cat guardians are in favor of declawing, while only 8 percent of dog fanciers agree with debarking, or surgically removing dogs' vocal chords.

I can only hope that most of the people who voted for declawing don't know exactly what it is. Declawing is like taking a hatchet to a hangnail—literally. It involves 10 separate, painful surgeries, severing not just the nails but the whole joint, including the bones, ligaments, and tendons.

Complications of declawing include chronic pain, nerve damage, hemorrhaging, bone chips, recurrent infections, and abnormal regrowth of the nail inside the paw. Oh, and let's not forget those other two common "complications"—biting and spraying. I've had two declawed cats in my life (both were already declawed when they came to me), and one was a biter and the other is a sprayer. Think snagged furniture is the worst of your problems? Try walking into a house that reeks of cat urine. It takes destruction of property to a whole new level.

Declawed Teddy: He's so gorgeous, I can forgive him for spraying on anything in a box or plastic bag.

Not all declawed cats become biters and sprayers, of course, but you have no way of knowing how your cat will react until it's too late. Declawing is a permanent solution to what is often a temporary problem. Kittens usually outgrow their urge to scale the drapes and attack your wiggling toes. Most cats naturally gravitate toward scratching posts and cardboard scratching boxes, especially if you make them more alluring with catnip and toys. Claws' destructiveness can be curtailed with biweekly trimming. You trim your dog's nails—why not your cat's?

Find more tips on discouraging cats from scratching furniture in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You. 

Via The Sacramento Bee 

Written by Alisa Mullins

If declawing were more accurately referred to as "amputation," would people still declaw their cats? The Paw Project doesn't think so. In this provocative new public service announcement, the group shows exactly what the procedure would look like on a human. Its website explains that "[t]o declaw a cat, the veterinarian cuts off the last knuckles of a cat's paw—cutting through bone, tendons, skin and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint."

Cats often experience extreme pain when they awaken from declawing, and they frequently have difficulty relearning how to walk, much as a person would after losing his or her toes. In PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You, experienced veterinarian Dr. Louis J. Camuti is quoted as saying, "I wouldn't declaw a cat if you paid me $1,000 a nail!"

Nearly two dozen countries, including the U.K., Australia, and Japan, have prohibited or severely restricted veterinarians from declawing. Until the U.S. follows suit, it's up to us to protect our felines' feet by buying scratching posts and sisal "scratching boxes," teaching cats where—and where not—to claw, and giving them regular "pedicures" (i.e., trimming their nails). Getting mani-pedis with our cats—now if only they could talk Twilight with us too …

Written by Michelle Sherrow

mediabistro / CC

Purrrrr. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make disabling declawing cats illegal, and other California cities are set to vote on similar measures this week.

Painful and traumatic, declawing is really 10 separate amputations in which the last joint of every single toe gets cut off along with the nail. Declawing a cat is the equivalent of cutting a person's fingers off at the first knuckle and leads to gradual weakening of cats' legs, shoulders, and back muscles. Declawed cats are more likely to have behavior "problems" such as avoiding the litterbox and biting, and they are commonly surrendered to shelters by frustrated guardians.

Germany and other parts of Europe have outlawed declawing as a form of cruelty, and many conscientious veterinarians in the U.S. refuse to declaw because they realize that all someone needs to do to save their furniture (or whatever other lame excuse people come up with to justify mangling their kitties) is take the time to simply trim their cats' nails and buy proper scratching posts.

The Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Berkeley city councils will be considering or voting on declawing bans this week, so please tell anyone you know in these cities to send an urgent e-mail to their councilmembers today.

Written by Heather Drennan (with help from Wellington)