the United States Department of Agriculture enacted a ban on declawing of all wild and exotic animals held by USDA-licensed owners. In April 2007, the city of Norfolk, Virginia, the city of the headquarters of PETA, initially outlawed declawing, but the law was amended immediately to prohibit declawing only by persons other than veterinarians (Municipal Code Sec. 6.1-78.1). In 2009, the California state legislature approved a measure, sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), intended to stop other cities from passing bans similar to West Hollywood's. The bill included all professions licensed by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, and it was signed into law by the Governor in July 2009. However, the law's effective date, January 1, 2010, provided enough time for seven more California cities to pass Paw Project-sponsored local bans against the declawing of domestic cats: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Burbank, Santa Monica, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, and Culver City. In 2012, a California bill, authored by Senator Fran Pavley and sponsored by the Paw Project, was signed into law that prohibits landlords from requiring declawing and devocalization of animals as a condition of tenancy. In 2013, the state of Rhode Island enacted a law, similar to the California law, prohibiting landlords from requiring declawing as a condition of occupancy. Denver, Colorado, approved the first ban on declawing in a U.S. city outside California in November 2017. The effort was spearheaded by Aubrey Lavizzo, DVM, a veterinarian and Paw Project-Colorado Director. The ordinance was introduced by Denver City Councilmember Kendra Black. On July 22, 2019, New York became the first state to ban declawing except if necessary to treat a medical condition in the cat. In February 2020, Banfield, VCA, and BluePearl veterinary clinics announced that they would no longer offer elective declawing of cats. The decision applied to the over 2000 clinics in the US and Canada operated by Mars Veterinary Health, which employs over 10,000 veterinarians. Mars Veterinary Health is the largest owner of veterinary clinics in the United States and Canada. Dr. Jennifer Welser, Mars chief medical and quality officer, explained the decision in a statement: "At Mars Veterinary Health, we believe every pet deserves a safe, loving and supportive home that enables appropriate expression of natural behaviors. After careful consideration, medical leadership aligned on a new declaw position, and elective declaw surgery is no longer offered at U.S. Mars Veterinary Health practices." The