Animal Hoarding
What Is Animal Hoarding?
An animal hoarder (sometimes incorrectly called an animal collector) is defined by three characteristics.
- An unusually high number of animals.
- Failure to provide to even minimal animal care (such as food, medical care, etc.).
- Denial of the failure to provide care and resulting horrible living conditions of both animals and people in the home.
Animal Hoarders
Whatever the cause or intention of hoarding may be, the reality is gruesome. Anyone who has seen pictures knows the disturbing conditions: countless sick, starving animals crowded together, fighting each other for food scraps, living in their own filth. The animals, left to themselves, breed and make the overcrowding even worse. From all the mess accumulating overtime, the air itself turns sour with the constant stench of feces and urine. Sometimes animal hoarders can't even bring themselves to give up the corpses of animals that have died. The bodies are left lying around, or maybe put in the freezer or refrigerator. At times, the sanitary conditions deteriorate to the point that when the authorities finally get involved they just have the house burned.
As strange as it sounds, a hoarder often feels that the pets need his care to survive. The animals, he thinks, are an integral part of his identity, and the idea of parting with them can cause overwhelming grief. There is some evidence that many individuals develop this condition because of troubles in childhood. The hoarder, as an adult, tries to use the animals to get the love that was missing at a younger age. Because the hoarder feels that he is saving the animals, hoarding is the most common type of animal abuse among animal rescuers.
If you are aware of an instance of animal hoarding, please contact the local authorities. The animals need better care, and the hoarder also needs professinoal help to overcome his problems.
