Hoarders are not the same as owners of puppy or kitten mills, though conditions found in inhumane breeding facilities can be as bad or worse.

Animal hoarding is a mental illness and is recognized as a psychological condition similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder, not deliberate animal cruelty. A hoarder accumulates animals, and then keeps them hidden or private. Example:

5 Eyewitness News: 118 cats rescued from St. Anthony mobile home

Video and story of couple who hoarded 118 cats in 500 sq. ft mobile home.

 

What is animal hoarding? (copy below from Pet News Examiner)

Animal Hoarding is a complex and little understood problem that results in hundreds and thousands of cases each year. Animal hoarders believe they are rescuing and caring for the animals, when in fact, they are mistreating them. Experts aren't sure how or why the hoarding behavior begins and how to treat the problem behavior.

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC), defines an animal hoarder as:

• someone who accumulates a large number of animals;
• fails to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care;
• fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation and even death); and
• fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the environment (severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions), or the negative impact of the collection on their own health and well-being.

Typical animal hoarding traits

A groundbreaking study conducted in New York City in 1981 and a followup study by Gary J. Patronek in 1999 revealed the following:

• most hoarders collected dogs or cats;
• men more often collected dogs, and women more often collected cats.
• nearly two-thirds of study's participants were women and 70% were unmarried.
• social isolation was common but appeared to result from the hoarding behavior rather than causing it
• most reported their collecting started in childhood
• many had no telephone, public utilities or plumbing, and many hoarded inanimate objects as well
• many felt their animals gave them "unquestioning and uncritical love"
they viewed themselves as rescuers of suffering or unloved animals
• dead or sick animals were discovered in 80% of reported cases, but more than half of the hoarders would not acknowledge the problem
• in 69% of cases, animal feces and urine accumulated in living areas, and over one-quarter of the hoarders' beds were soiled with feces or urine
• hoarders justified their behavior by citing an intense love of animals, the feeling that animals were surrogate children, the belief that no one else would or could take care of them, and the fear that the animals would be euthanized
• typically, animals played significant roles in the hoarders' childhoods, which was often marked by chaotic, inconsistent and unstable parenting
• 60% of the hoarders studied were repeat offenders

Psychiatric definition per Psychiatric Times

"An animal hoarder is defined as "someone who accumulates a large number of animals; fails to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care; and fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation and even death) or the environment (severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions), or the negative impact of the collection on their own health and well-being."

Legal action: What has been done and what you can do

In 2005, the Animal League Defense Fund (ALDF) took legal action against a hoarder in North Carolina. For details of this action, read ALDF v. Woodley. Per the ALDF website and this case:

"In most states, a prosecutor must be the one to bring charges against animal hoarders for committing acts of cruelty to animals. But a unique North Carolina provision, the 19A Statute, which ALDF used in this unprecedented lawsuit against the Woodleys, allows any private citizen of organization to bring civil charges against abusers for violating animal cruelty laws. ALDF has drafted a Model Law or a Private Right of Action, based on North Carolina's unique provision that, if passed in other states, would greatly reduce the burden on local prosecutors and allow concerned citizens and animal protection groups to stop the tragedy of hoarding in their own communities."

Additional links

Pet-Abuse.com: Animal Abuse Case Details

Case updates about hoarding of 118 cats in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Pet-Abuse.com: Animal Abuse Case Details

Hoarding - 5 dogs seized, 4 cats dead in Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Children of Hoarders: Minnesota

Contact information for intervention.

Animal Law: Long-Term Outcomes in Animal Hoarding Cases

Per site: "Animal hoarding is a form of abuse that affects thousands of animals each year, yet little is known about how cases are best resolved, the effectiveness of prosecution, and how sentences relate to the severity of the offense. This lack of information has hampered effective resolution and the prevention of recidivism."

Animal Hoarding: Rabbit Collectors

Other animals, such as rabbits, dogs and horses, can also be hoarded.