---
type: "Bill"
title: "Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts"
description: "Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 22"
citation: "Maryland HB 22 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Belcastro", "Boyce", "Charkoudian", "R. Lewis", "Ruth", "Terrasa"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-09-30"
last_action: "2022-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0b2e628e-9feb-410a-8a5f-b9aaeffb7dbf"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0022?ys=2022RS&search=True"
source_hash: "a0a612c00b8c497c464c53cfec8c0b8df93f7beff57700fb3c9061bb1900d3ba"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland HB 22 (2022) — Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/Chapters_noln/CH_178_hb0022t.pdf)
2. **First - Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0022f.pdf)
3. **Third - Animal Welfare - Declawing Cats - Prohibited Acts** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0022t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **34–12** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **112–25** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Belcastro — primary (person)
- Boyce — primary (person)
- Charkoudian — primary (person)
- R. Lewis — primary (person)
- Ruth — primary (person)
- Terrasa — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-09-30** Pre-filed `introduction`
- **2022-01-12** First Reading Environment and Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-10** Hearing 1/19 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2022-03-07** Favorable with Amendments Report by Environment and Transportation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-08** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-08** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2022-03-10** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2022-03-11** Referred Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2022-04-06** Favorable Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-04-06** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-04-06** Second Reading Passed
- **2022-04-07** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2022-04-08** Returned Passed
- **2022-04-21** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 178 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0b2e628e-9feb-410a-8a5f-b9aaeffb7dbf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).