British comedian Amy Hoggart takes a deep dive into the divisive issue of cat declawing in the United States. What’s been widely spread as a harmless surgery is a hot-button topic in the veterinary community. American Cats: The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly presents its case via firsthand conversations and interviews with activists, veterinarians, and pet owners alike, as to why declawing should be banned. What they find is a heavily guarded industry whose resistance poses additional issues that need attention.
From the beginning, it didn’t quite feel like a serious documentary. The air of “gotcha journalism” filled more than a few scenes and the overall feel of the documentary came with a shadow of bias. The methods Hoggart uses feel deceitful, and on the subject of the film, I’m not for declawing but I also understand people do it for reasons other than the preservation of their furniture. Not all declawing procedures are as bad as the ones shown in this documentary and her reasoning was stuck on “furniture” as the root cause. Where the film truly shines is the hard work that her interviewees put into legislation and the uncovering of a much larger issue.
Insightful conversations with Susan Whittred, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, Nicole K Martell-Moran, and others added clarity and authenticity to the film. You’ll learn about organizations like JAVMA (Journal of American Veterinary Medicine Association), JFMS (Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery), and The Paw Project, an organization whose mission is to educate the public about the painful and crippling effects of feline declawing. As a collective, they overlap in their message of healthy alternatives like claw clipping and nail caps.
Hoggart does have a collection of zingers that come across humorously, but she probably wasn’t the best option for this as an “investigative” documentary. Even with a pro-declawing supporter in Peter Weinstein, she shouted, “I got him!” when he conveyed the message she desired. It wasn’t the worst but was far from the best.
The biggest threat uncovered in the film is that ultimately, if the government can regulate the treatment of cats, it can open the door for how they regulate the treatment of all animals. Many of the aforementioned professionals feel that the AVMA is protecting the billion-dollar declawing industry and the trillion-dollar meat agriculture industry.
American Cats gets a 7.5 out of 10. It’s a film that doesn’t know if it wants to be taken seriously or just fill a void. If it wants to be serious, it’s missing a high-level of comedy balanced by investigate journalism, a la Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. While Hoggart may not have been the best choice to navigate these waters, there’s still a hefty amount of educating that gets accomplished.
American Cats: The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival which is underway and runs through Oct. 14.
-Jon Jones
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