For most people the term “animal hoarding” conjures up images of an eccentric “cat lady,” but it is likely that the actions of most hoarders are the result of a true pathology. For many involved in investigating animal cruelty and neglect, hoarding cases are among the most horrific they ever encounter. The amount of suffering in a hoarder case is more widespread and of longer duration than in most animal cruelty cases, according to Randall Lockwood, the Humane Society of the United States' vice president for Research and Educational Outreach.
An animal hoarder is a person who collects large numbers of animals while failing to provide minimum standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care. They invariably insist that their animals are loved and well cared for and seem incapable of seeing the filthy conditions their animals are living in and even somehow rationalize the deaths and suffering.
According to studies at Tufts University most cases involve women (76 percent): almost half live alone and in more than 80 percent of cases, dead or sick animals were discovered.
Animal hoarding is now being recognized as a widespread problem, affecting all sorts of animals in every part of the country. Hoarding can often amount to physical, medical and physiological neglect in the extreme. An estimated 250,000 animals per year are victims of hoarding. Because of the horrible suffering involved, criminal animal cruelty charges are increasingly being filed in hoarding cases.
Hoarding is very often a symptom of a greater mental illness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. For most hoarders it is likely that their actions are the result of a true pathology, even though they are still usually able to function quite well in society.
Central New York has had a number of publicized cases where several humane societies and shelters have had to band together to take the suffering animals (sometimes in the hundreds) out of such terrible situations. Rescuers sometimes have to wear masks to enter a hoarder dwelling. And the humane organizations then must take on the costs of medical treatment, socialization, euthanization and adoption.
Many hoarders have an uncanny ability to attract sympathy for themselves, no matter how abused their animals may be.
That is how hoarders manage to fool others into thinking the situation is under control.
“Very few hoarder cases simply involve good intentions gone awry, despite the insistence of the hoarder that he or she loves the animals and wants to save their lives.
It#'s unbelievable how someone who reports to love animals so much can cause so much suffering.” says Mr. Lockwood.
It is clear that animals in hoarding situations are living in deplorable conditions and desperately need help. In many instances, the hoarder resists allowing family and friends to enter the house.
For families, friends and neighbors, it is important to recognize when a person#'s fixation with animals has gotten out of control and to intervene by notifying authorities for the sake of the animals and the hoarder.
Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes. Contact her at judy@cayugaanimaladvocates.org
According to studies at Tufts University most cases involve women (76 percent): almost half live alone and in more than 80 percent of cases, dead or sick animals were discovered.
Animal hoarding is now being recognized as a widespread problem, affecting all sorts of animals in every part of the country. Hoarding can often amount to physical, medical and physiological neglect in the extreme. An estimated 250,000 animals per year are victims of hoarding. Because of the horrible suffering involved, criminal animal cruelty charges are increasingly being filed in hoarding cases.
Hoarding is very often a symptom of a greater mental illness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. For most hoarders it is likely that their actions are the result of a true pathology, even though they are still usually able to function quite well in society.
Central New York has had a number of publicized cases where several humane societies and shelters have had to band together to take the suffering animals (sometimes in the hundreds) out of such terrible situations. Rescuers sometimes have to wear masks to enter a hoarder dwelling. And the humane organizations then must take on the costs of medical treatment, socialization, euthanization and adoption.
Many hoarders have an uncanny ability to attract sympathy for themselves, no matter how abused their animals may be.
That is how hoarders manage to fool others into thinking the situation is under control.
“Very few hoarder cases simply involve good intentions gone awry, despite the insistence of the hoarder that he or she loves the animals and wants to save their lives.
It#'s unbelievable how someone who reports to love animals so much can cause so much suffering.” says Mr. Lockwood.
It is clear that animals in hoarding situations are living in deplorable conditions and desperately need help. In many instances, the hoarder resists allowing family and friends to enter the house.
For families, friends and neighbors, it is important to recognize when a person#'s fixation with animals has gotten out of control and to intervene by notifying authorities for the sake of the animals and the hoarder.
Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes. Contact her at judy@cayugaanimaladvocates.org
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