Animal Hoarding - How Many is too Many?


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Vanillasky is offline Vanillasky Post #1  March 17,2011, 4:41pm
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Confessions: Animal Hoarding is a documentary series on Animal Planet.

Professionals work with families and friends of people who are overwhelmed by their animals.

An animal hoarder is distinguished from a person who keeps an unusually large number of pets, but who cares for them properly. By comparison, an animal hoarder does not care for their unusually large number of pets properly.

What would cause someone to have and love so many pets, but not care for them properly?
 
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TheThinker is offline TheThinker Post #2  March 18,2011, 9:28am
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Wendycity wrote :

What would cause someone to have and love so many pets, but not care for them properly?
At some point, these people have decided that their emotional needs outweigh the physical needs, and the overall humane treatment that animals deserve.
This is also sometimes, why you see people hang on to a pet soooo long as it's suffering from a terminal illness...they can't let go for the better of the pet...even when they know, it is well past the time to say "goodbye" to their friend.

In effect, their selfishness takes over, and brainwashes them into thinking they know what's good for the pet... and they can't see outside of themselves. Very sad.
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mitchell175 is online now mitchell175 Post #3  March 18,2011, 9:49am
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I think any of those "Hoarding " shows on TV are fascinating to watch. What compels people to develop such an unhealthy attachment to "things" - whether they are pets, or just "stuff" that they pile up and end up "hoarding"? There's definitely a highly emotional component.

I have seen shows where people hoard complete garbage - like one episode where a woman had a pumpkin from the previous Halloween that was completely rotten and putrid, and when the cleaners tried to take it away, she dove in and cried "But, I can still save the seeds!". Or, the woman who had expired milk in her fridge that was just bulging because it was so curdled. She said she couldn't throw out the curdled milk because it was a "waste". That's a sickness.

I don't always keep the cleanest house, and that's mostly because I (like everyone else) accumulate a lot of "stuff" that you figure you will deal with "later". They end up in little piles around your house, like on the edge of the counter. This is things like junk mail, or maybe something like a pair of broken sunglasses that you figure "Oh, I'll just get one of those eyeglass repair kits and replace the screw...". But, months pass, and you still haven't done it. Then, I watch a show like "Hoarders" - and then I go through my house and start tossing all that stuff! I always feel so much better after that.

As for the animal hoarders, I think they start out thinking they are "helping" by rescuing homeless cats. Then, they get overwhelmed, can't feed or care for them, and end up living in squalor. Sometimes, the officials come in to clean up and find dead/dying animals. It's extremely sad.
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k9force is offline k9force Post #4  March 18,2011, 10:20am
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I have a cousin who was a hoarder of both "stuff" and cats. I don't know what her fixation was with the stuff, but as for the cats, she just has a very good heart. Unfortunately her income has never been good enough to be able to afford caring for more than one or two pets.

Often times these people don't trust others to care for them, or they fear they will be euthanized if they turn them over to a shelter or humane society. But if they don't have the resources to properly care for them (including spaying and neutering) the population continues to multiply and soon they are in way over their heads.
 
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dbz77 is offline dbz77 Post #5  March 18,2011, 10:38am
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k9force wrote :
I have a cousin who was a hoarder of both "stuff" and cats. I don't know what her fixation was with the stuff, but as for the cats, she just has a very good heart. Unfortunately her income has never been good enough to be able to afford caring for more than one or two pets.

Often times these people don't trust others to care for them, or they fear they will be euthanized if they turn them over to a shelter or humane society. But if they don't have the resources to properly care for them (including spaying and neutering) the population continues to multiply and soon they are in way over their heads.
I suspect it has to do with insecurity; they feel that they might lose everything, so they hoard as much stuff as they can, while ignoring storage costs. And given the recent earthquake in Japan, these feelings of insecurity and the fear of losing everything are not entirely unjustified.
 
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mitchell175 is online now mitchell175 Post #6  March 18,2011, 10:47am
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k9force wrote :
Often times these people don't trust others to care for them, or they fear they will be euthanized if they turn them over to a shelter or humane society. But if they don't have the resources to properly care for them (including spaying and neutering) the population continues to multiply and soon they are in way over their heads.
I adopted my cats from a "no-kill" shelter that specializes only in cats. Unfortunately, since there are so many homeless cats out there, they are not able to find homes for all of them. They have a "neuter and release" program to deal with feral cat colonies. When they find feral kittens, they will try to foster them, and work with them until they become adoptable. Not all of them can be adoptable, because they are just too feral to ever be able to live with humans. In that case, they are neutered, and re-released to the wild.

Feral cats are very interesting, because they never lose that "fight or flight" tendency. My cats are very loving - to me - and sit on me constantly, and love to snuggle and be petted. But, anyone knocks on my door, and they run and hide! People ask me "Don't you have cats? I've never seen them here". Yeah, look under the bed!

If I could have 100 cats, I would, because I hate to see them at the shelter, and I just want to take them all home. But, I know that I cannot afford, nor do I have the space for, more than 2. The cat hoarders lack the ability to distinguish this fact. Again, hoarding is a serious mental illness. It is not just "lack of self control".
 
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k9force is offline k9force Post #7  March 18,2011, 11:28am
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My cats do the same thing, Mitchell! I tell my pet-sitters not to worry if they don't see my cats.

I used to do volunteer work for our local humane society. That is typically the first thing out of our mouths when we first start. "I wish I could take them all home." The lady who trained me, a seasoned volunteer told me, "You can't take them all home. Besides we won't let you!" For me, I really feel that the five years I volunteered opened my eyes. I saw animals come in and animals go out and some came back after adoption. It was like the place had a revolving door. There was absolutely no end to litters of kittens or dogs being surrendered for stupid reasons.

I like the idea of TNR (trap/neuter/release). Most feral cats just won't work as pets yet I hate to see them destroyed. If they can be neutered and put a halt to the population explosion and then returned to "the wild" at least they stand a chance. I've seen a lot of good-hearted souls put food out for local feral cats.

By the way, my cousin had to be forcibly taken out of the situation she was in. She wouldn't allow her sister to help her go through her belongings and she couldn't afford to care for the cats she took in. She now lives in an apartment with one cat. Yes...it is a mental illness.
 
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eHA_Admin_Lori is offline eHA_Admin_Lori — Advice Official Moderator Post #8  March 18,2011, 3:36pm
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Wendycity wrote :
Confessions: Animal Hoarding is a documentary series on Animal Planet.

Professionals work with families and friends of people who are overwhelmed by their animals.

An animal hoarder is distinguished from a person who keeps an unusually large number of pets, but who cares for them properly. By comparison, an animal hoarder does not care for their unusually large number of pets properly.

What would cause someone to have and love so many pets, but not care for them properly?
I love the Hoarders shows, they're fascinating, but I can't handle watching the animal one, it's so heartbreaking. The really sad ones are when they clean up and find carcasses of animals that didn't make it...

As to your question, Wendy, I would imagine that they take in the pets with the best of intentions and then just get overwhelmed. I'm sure a lot of other factors play into why they take in the animals in the first place, but I think the neglect comes from just, not being able to deal with the situation they themselves created.

Sad
 
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legend29 is offline legend29 Post #9  March 22,2011, 3:58pm
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I know hoarding and what it does to a person....you can't see that you are hoarding and it's only when people say something about your hoarding that you either get defensive... or clean up your act.

I'm a teacher...I used to hoard all sorts of school supplies, books, etc.

It took my kids to finally confront me with my 'illness/obsession' and they all came together and did their own intervention. I was up to four storage spaces so if you came into my home you would never know that I was a hoarder. I guess my need for space and cleanliness in my home (and often unreasonable fastidious nature) kept me from hoarding in my home.

With that said, I have never hoarded pets but have been in two relationships with men who had three or more cats/dogs. The relationships failed because I could not stand the smell on my clothes and the overt attention paid to their pets.

But it is important to recognize that just because someone has loads of pets does not mean they have an illness or that they are hoarders. Some folks have loads of animals and do not have the 'hoarder illness', they just have a huge love of animals and can differentiate between their love for animals and their mate, and can spend time equally with no problema. On the other hand, some folks do have the dreaded 'hoarder illness'.

It is all about what the prospective mate can handle...deal with....and what is their personal deal breaker.

Not all folks who have lots of pets are 'animal hoarders'...each prospective mate should be assessed accordingly.

Spoken from a person who has no pets (I just don't have the patience to take care of that amount of pets and my love is spread thinly as it is) but understands, and a bit admires people who can give that much amount of love and time to non humans....truly admirable but just not for me...heck...I'm still working on showing that much love to my human mates...my hat goes off to all of you pet lovers...
Last edited by legend29; March 22,2011 at 4:06pm.
 
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Xable is offline Xable Post #10  March 23,2011, 8:15am
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Hoarding - of any kind is a mental illness. The sad thing about pet hoarding is that living creatures are involved and can be harmed by it. Hoarders often don't realize they are doing it and they don't mean to be cruel.

My grandma, mom, and aunt are all hoarders - and I know exactly why they do it. They grew up very very poor and so they have an extreme waste not want not mentality mixed with a I couldn't have it as a child so I over compensate now.

My Grandma has canned food that has been expired for over 3 years and refuses to throw it away. She is currently making her way through a jar of year old expired peanut butter (I would throw it away and get her a new one but she would yell). I know that food doesn't necessary go bad when it expires - but to me there is a limit and she has SO much money now that it is ridiculous to do so.

My mom refuses to throw anything away - no matter what. She is a teacher too and the whole garage is full of old text books and stuff. She even makes sure she buys a big vehicle - like a van - so she can use it as an extra "room".

They have so much stuff that is broken and irreparable but they refuse to toss it because they think someone can use it or might want it.

Now my Aunt - my aunt is all about the pets. For her, it compensates for not having them growing up. She has so many she can't care or feed them all. The good news is that she makes sure to give them good homes when it gets too bad and she does take excellent care of them all. It is just she can't really afford to.

I mean, last I heard they found some abandon baby squirrels and so were raising them by hand. I'm not sure what happened to them because when I asked my little cousin (who is four and very active in raising them) what happened she gave a confused story about one dieing and one escaping so there was only one left. *shrugs* But, one way she finds "good" homes for them is to foster them off on my grandmother who can even take care of herself so my mom gets stuck taking care of them. We currently have 2 of my "grandma's" dogs living with us on top of my mom's own. I think there are two other dogs and maybe a cat of two that other people are "pet sitting." I'm really surprised my Aunt didn't become a vet.

Oh, and for me, anything more than two pets is too many for me. I know you might be able to take care of more, but for me I wouldn't want any more than that. I like pets but I'm not particularly in love with them. Currently taking care of three chihuahuas, two of which are very old with bladder control problems (and not house trained), I know how much work and effort is involved in properly taking care of them and it is a LOT of time, energy, and money.

Pets are like babies, and there is a reason we normally only have one at a time. =)
Last edited by Xable; March 23,2011 at 8:22am.
 
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