Animal Hoarders
A NYSHA Fact Sheet
What is an animal hoarder?
A person who amasses more animals than he/she can properly care
for. Such individuals generally fail to recognize —
or refuse to acknowledge — when the animals in their custody
become victims of gross neglect. Animal hoarders are also referred to
as animal collectors.
What characteristics do animal hoarders generally share?
- an apparent need to have many animals —
and, usually, many inanimate objects as well; an addiction to clutter
- intelligence and communication skills, combined
with a shrewd ability to attract sympathy for themselves, no matter how
abused their animals may be
- a stubborn refusal to part with any of their
animals, be it through adoption of relatively healthy ones or
euthanasia of sick ones (Sometimes, they even keep the dead
ones!)
- a clandestine lifestyle — There is often
a stark contrast between the hoarder’s public persona and
his/her private life
- a tendency to deny reality — They insist
that all animals are healthy; that those confined for long periods in
small cages or kennels are comfortable; that overcrowding does not
subject animals to severe stress and related diseases; etc.
- recidivism — Unless expert psychiatric
help is obtained, hoarders almost invariably return to old ways, even
if convicted of cruelty to animals.
What motivates anyone to accumulate and “warehouse”
large numbers of animals?
No comprehensive psychological study has been made of the hoarder
syndrome, and most people tend to think of hoarders as motivated by
“love of animals that got out of
control.” This is one — but not the sole
— possible factor. There are undoubtedly several
types of influences (or combinations thereof), such as the following,
and they are not the same for every hoarder.
- a “love of animals” combined
with a failure to care for them responsibility — Example: the
elderly woman who feeds all the neighborhood strays, but has none of
them spayed/neutered or given other necessary veterinary
care. This type of person is usually genuinely fond of
animals, but quickly becomes overwhelmed when they multiply.
- a perception that reverence for life is synonymous
with preservation of life, regardless of its quality — Some
people find the thought of death so abhorrent that they deem an
inhumane life far preferable to a humane death. They often go
to great lengths to “rescue” dogs or cats from
traditional shelters, sometimes boasting of having thus removed them
from “death row,” the brink of euthanasia.
- a “hero/martyr complex”
— Hoarders often receive very favorable publicity about the
personal sacrifices they make on behalf of animals. They
become enamored of their own public image, and won’t risk
tarnishing it by openly disposing of animals that have become
burdensome.
- a need to control — Many hoarders create
situations which assure them absolute power over every aspect of the existence of animals in their custody. They
keep their victims crowded together behind locked doors and gates, denying them human companionship, veterinary
care, exercise, bedding, fresh air, and adequate food and water.
What can you do to help prevent hoarder tragedies?
-
Promote legislation which provides for licensing,
inspection, and strict regulation of both private and public animal
shelters.
- Support — morally and financially
— organizations, legislation, and programs that focus on
spaying/neutering of companion animals.
- Become
involved, to the extent you can afford to do so, in directly assisting individuals who are financially unable
to have their companion animals sterilized, even if you must
“do it yourself,” i.e., pay the veterinary fee for
the surgery and transport the animals to and from the
veterinarian’s office.
- Support the humane organization in your community
which is responsible for enforcing anti-cruelty-to-animals statutes.
- Work to educate others about the suffering caused
by hoarders, individuals who may be aptly characterized as
“addicted to animals.” The public, many
journalists, and even some representatives of humane organizations tend
to sympathize with hoarders because they perceive them to be providing
a service: keeping animals alive that would otherwise be euthanized or
abandoned. Most people do not understand that keeping animals
alive in the environment hoarders provide, invariably lead to
intolerable suffering . Compassion for hoarders is not
misplaced if one recognizes that most of them are in desperate need of
psychological help. What hoarders do not need is the type of
sympathy and support which result in enabling them to continue
harboring and acquiring ever more animals. It is important
for those who are familiar with the “hoarder
syndrome” to inform others about the consequences of this
problem.
- Do not deceive yourself into believing that
animals for whom responsible homes cannot be found are better off
warehoused than euthanized. Paradoxically, the animals
“saved” by hoarders are usually condemned to
infernal living conditions and lingering, painful deaths.
===
For further information, go to the website of the Hoarding of Animals
Research Consortium (HARC), which has published a number of articles by
and for professionals in a variety of fields. Go to the Resources link
to download the articles.
Additional articles can be found at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) website.
Prepared by New York State
Humane Association, PO Box 3068, Kingston, NY 12402