Many of us want to help animals in need. We take them in and nourish them back to health. We love them and try to find loving homes. There is a fine line between helping animals and hoarding animals. Most people do not recognize the problem because they are just helping the animals.
Experts tell us that animal hoarding is a mental health disorder related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Most hoarders are middle-aged or older women living alone. Often the animal of choice is the cat - it's easier to keep cats indoors, out of the prying eyes of neighbors. Usually by the time others are alerted to a bad situation, there can be hundreds of cats crammed into a house or trailer. Some animal hoarders start with the best of intentions. But gradually the animals lose their identities, becoming objects to be collected just as some eccentric people collect old magazines or tin foil or balls of string. Removing the animals is not enough; unless the perpetrators receive professional help, they often just move to a new location and start up all over again.
Not everyone who ends up with too many animals is a hoarder. There is a big difference between a rescuer whose situation is getting out of control and an animal hoarder who is mentally ill and using animals to feed her compulsion. I have met numerous caring animal lovers who have rescued more animals than they can cope with at home and who have found themselves in trouble. They are not sick people.
Facts to look for:
• 76% of the people involved were women.
• 85% were middle aged, and 46% were over 60.
• Half of them live alone.
• In 80% of the cases, the animals were found dead or seriously neglected.
• And while many of the cases are prosecuted, the animal hoarder is usually able simply to move house and start the whole cycle over again. ("There's almost a 100% recidivism rate," says one researcher.)
Other facts:
• Up to 2,000 cases of animal hoarding are discovered in the United States every year.
• The homes of animal hoarders are sometimes in such filthy condition - ankle-deep in rotting waste - that the premises have to be burned down or bulldozed.
• While hoarders protest their love for animals, the syndrome is considered by psychologists to be not about love, but about control, and is linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Hoarders are almost always in a state of complete denial. Typically they may say that "the house is just a little messy" and the animals are fine.
Basic definition of an animal hoarder:
• It's not a question of the number of animals that defines hoarding, but the way they are kept, According to the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortlure:
• Hoarders accumulate a large number of animals.
• They fail to provide minimal standards of care and even sanitation
• They fail to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals and their housing
• They fail to act on the negative impact of their animal collecting on their own health and well-being
If you recognize yourself, a friend, or family member in any of this, then it's time to stop and think and find some help, A slower, steady course of care, taking on what can be handled well, will help more in the end by preventing burnout and disasters. To really help the animals, we need to be healthy in mind and body. As in all things in life, balance is essential.
