Declawing is actually an amputation.

[Catherine]

Quote:And as for furniture....well anyone who has a sharpclaws in the house should train it to use a particular hard piece of wood or scratching post. They soon get into the habit of having a favourite place to scratch.

You are right. Cats will learn to scratch a certain place if it is suitable and you encourage them to do so from a young age.
That means doing a little work when raising the cat and getting a proper scratching post. 

Children can and should learn to respect a cat. If the child is not bothering the cat the child won't be scratched.

Declawing is the choice of a lazy selfish person. They don't want to do any work, but they still want a cat. Cat claws don't grow long like dogs, but the sharp tips can be taken off. Sometimes cat claws will catch on certain types of carpet. Just cutting a bit off solves the problem. Amputating the end of the toe is a drastic way to stop claws catching. 

I wonder who started the idea of declawing in the first place.