<div><p>Getting a kitten is a big responsibility. Not just because of the new, tiny, life in your home...but because you have to essentially baby-proof your house. </p><p>De-clawing cats is the route most people take when they're worried about potential house destruction. This practice is incredibly controversial, however. <a href="https://www.shared.com/this-act-of-animal-cruelty-could-be-banned-for-the-first-time-in-the-u-2242910690/">New Jersey</a> even went so far as to ban the surgery due to its unethical nature. </p><p>Unfortunately for little Valentine, his owners were more concerned about their furniture than Valentine's well-being. Valentine was dropped off at a Los Angeles animal shelter with no claws. But it wasn't just the fact that he was de-clawed that caught the shelter's attention, it was how botched the surgery was. </p><p>Valentine was left in brutal pain after his surgery. The infections were so bad, staff at the shelter thought he might die. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-30_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"He was in so much pain, he was acting out," Jennifer Conrad, a veterinarian and founder of <a href="http://www.pawproject.org/">The Paw Project</a>, said. "He was biting. He was terrified."</p><p>Valentine was so aggressive because of the pain, he was added to the shelter's euthanasia list. </p><p>Lucky for Valentine, Aurelie Vanderhoek of Zoey's Place Rescue saw a photo of him and knew she had to do something. </p><p>"I saw the picture and my heart dropped," Vanderhoek says. "The incisions the vet had made were not even stitched. They were left open to bleed. I said, 'I don't care how we're going to do this. He's coming with me.'"</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x.JPG" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x_GH_content_550px.JPG 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x_GH_content_650px.JPG 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>It took some time, but Zoey says that Valentine is healing well. After people heard about Valentine's story, money and supplies poured in to help the little guy recover. </p><p>The Paw Project is even covering all of Valentine's medical bills. </p><p>"We take animals who were going to lose their lives because they were declawed "” and we rehabilitate them," Conrad says. "We've had a 100 percent success rate in finding these animals homes once they've been taken out of pain and the infection in their paws has been taken away."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-31_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>Vanderhoek says it took some time, but Valentine is adjusting well to living in his new home. </p><p>"All I did was sit next to him," Vanderhoek recalls. "I gave him a small room to get control over. And I just let him come to me. And within three days, he was purring and playing."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-32_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"He gets startled very easily with loud noises. I think he was abused because he has very, very sharp triggers," she says. "He's playful. All he wants right now is to be held. He just wants to cuddle."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-33.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/980x-33_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>