Animal Hoarding

Animal Hoarding often begins innocently enough, with the person taking in stray kittens and puppies, or attempting to give any animal they find a better home. It becomes a problem when these good intentions get out of control. Failure to spay or Neuter the animals and the constant addition of more animals often leads to over-population and an overwhelmed person.
Many Hoarders do not like to admit, or may not even realize that they are overwhelmed and that the conditions are becoming poor. AS the animal population in the house grows, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain a safe, sanitary environment, for all involved, and vet needs often go unchecked, causing diseases to spread and worsen.
Usually present in animal hoarding situations are high levels of ammonia-from large amounts of animal urine-, and large quantities of animal feces. These conditions help to spread disease to the animals.

Often, hoarders are able to present themselves as normal people, with a normal lifestyle. They are often educated people with jobs.

* Keeping more than the typical number of companion animals
* Inability to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and vet care.
* Denial of inability to properly care for animals
* Denial of situations they are placing the animals in
* Inability to stop obtaining more animals.

It is believed by many experts that hoarding is a sub-type, or symptom of OCD. Hyper sentimental Attachment to possesions is often seen in patients with OCD and hoarding problems. This is represented by the fact that hoarders often have a very hard time getting rid of items. The problem with animal hoarding is, that these hoarders have Hyper sentimental attachment to the animals, making it nearly impossible to give them up, even when the well being of said animals is in jeopardy. The hoarders don't see that. What they see is them "throwing away" something important to them.

In OCD patients, hoarding, if present, is often one of the first symptoms to develop. Research has shown that patients who have hoarding behaviors, often have more severe OCD symptoms that those that do not.

According to a study by Patranek, G.J published in 1999:
* 76% of hoarders are female
* 46% are older than 60 years of age
* About half of hoarders live in single=person homes
* In 80% of cases, animals are found dead or in poor condition

* Overcrowding
* Neglect
* Malnourishment
* Unsocialized animals
* Disease

If you suspect someone is an animal hoarder, contact your local humane society or police department.
Another way to help is to educate the public about animal hoarding.