Animal Hoarding: A Review of the Literature

Animal Hoarding Basics

• “The Problem of Animal Hoarding,” by Gary J. Patronek, Ph.D. and the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, Municipal Lawyer magazine, May/June 2001. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/MunicipaLawyer.pdf

This is a good introductory article for professionals of many types. It includes information on the characteristics of animal hoarders, possible causes, health issues, “concerns with prosecution,” possible legal interventions and preventions, the link between hoarding and adult abuse or neglect, and the benefits of multidisciplinary task forces. It also includes “management recommendations,” a bulleted list of suggestions for approaching hoarders.

• “Prosecuting Animal Hoarders is Like Herding Cats,” by Susan E. Davis, California Lawyer, September 2002. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/Herding_Cats.html

This article is a general introduction to animal hoarding and how it can be prosecuted. Contains several interesting case descriptions.

• “Too Many Pets,” by Margaret Combs, broadcast by Living on Earth, November 22, 2002. Both an audio version and a transcript are available in the archives at www.loe.org.

This 8-minute radio segment offers a short introduction to animal hoarders. It includes a statement that toxic levels of ammonia present in homes with a great deal of cat urine may cause confusion in hoarders; although ammonia is a topic on the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium website (www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/), this reviewer could not find additional evidence supporting this hypothesis.

• “Animal Hoarding: A Public Health Problem Veterinarians Can Take a Lead Role in Solving,” by Bridget M. Kuehn, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, October 15, 2002. Available at www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct02/021015a.asp

Another basic introduction to animal hoarding, this article stands out because of its “tips for identifying hoarders,” which may be useful to those who see one or more animals outside of a hoarder’s home.

• “Veterinarians and Animal Hoarders.” Undated fact sheet, Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium. Available at http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/vettips.html

This one-page fact sheet is aimed specifically at vets, giving them more tips on how to spot animal hoarders and how they can use their unique position to aid such hoarders.

• “Loving Animals to Death,” by Chris Colin, Salon.com, March 8, 2002. Available at www.salon.com/people/feature/2002/03/08/hoarders/print.html

In this readable article on the animal hoarding phenomena, the author points out that echoes of St. Francis of Assisi’s work with animals can be heard in modern-day hoarders’ descriptions of what they are doing.

• “People Who Hoard Animals,” by The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, Psychiatric Times, April 2000. Available at www.psychiatrictimes.com/p000425.html

Written for mental health professionals, this article emphasizes causal theories (delusional disorder, early dementia, addiction, zoophilia, attachment disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder). It also compares inanimate object hoarding with animal hoarding, pointing out overlaps and similarities.

• “Killing with Kindness?” by Randall Lockwood, Ph.D. and Barbara Cassidy, reprinted from HSUS News, Summer 1988, available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/kindness.pdf

An early review of the animal hoarding phenomenon, this article includes a summary of a 1981 study of 34 New York cases of hoarding. It also posits that hoarders become isolated after they obtain too many animals, and that a common hoarder trait “is a powerful fear of death and unwillingness to accept its inevitability.”

Research

• “Hoarding of Animals: An Under-Recognized Public Health Problem in a Difficult-to-Study Population,” by Gary J. Patronek, Public Health Reports, January/February 1999, pp. 81-87.

Patronek, the Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, analyzed 54 case reports of animal hoarders from eight states. This article reports on the demographics of the hoarders and their households, what kinds of and how many animals were involved, how the hoarders obtained the animals, the physical conditions of the homes, and case outcomes.

Prevention

• “Knowing When to Say When,” by Tracy Vogel, VetCentric, October 7, 2002. Available at www.vetcentric.com/magazine/magazineArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1878

How do you tell the difference between a legitimate animal rescuer or foster home and a hoarder? This article explores the vague line between them. Most importantly, the article includes advice on how shelters and other agencies that are overseeing animal foster homes can help prevent loving foster parents from becoming neglectful hoarders.

Interventions/Model Programs

• “Animal Hoarding: Recommendations for Intervention by Family and Friends,” by Jane N. Nathanson and the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, June 6, 2002. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/Intervention%20Guidelines.pdf

This is an excellent document for anyone who knows an animal hoarder, and may be helpful to professional interveners (who will, however, likely be frustrated that their workloads preclude following its time-intensive advice). After a brief discussion about animal hoarding behavior, the article covers: how to assess and accommodate or modify the intervener’s hot spots and expectations; how to listen to the hoarder and communicate in ways designed to lower resistance; how to recruit help; how to build a “positive alliance” with the hoarder and what specific assistance to offer once the alliance is in place; how to set limits; and what community resources might be available. Contains a particularly good paragraph on the limits of what authorities can do, including confidentiality and competency limitations.

• “Handling Animal Collectors, Part 1: Interventions That Work,” by Geoffrey L. Handy, first published in Shelter Sense, a publication of the Humane Society of the United States, in May-June 1994. Available at www.hsus2.org/sheltering/library/animal_collectors.html

Highly recommended for those called to intervene in animal hoarding cases, this comprehensive article reviews the pros and cons of prosecution and other types of interventions. It includes advice from humane society professionals who have successfully resolved cases. One section goes over the components of effective court orders. Another briefly explores interventions such as eviction, 72-hour evaluations, and guardianship.

• “Handling Animal Collectors, Part 2: Managing a Large-scale Rescue Operation,” by Geoffrey L. Handy, first published in Shelter Sense, a publication of the Humane Society of the United States, in July 1994. Available at www.hsus2.org/sheltering/library/animal_collectors2.html

Humane societies are usually the ones charged with removing animals from a hoarder’s home. Although they are certainly equipped for the job, they may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of animals and the need to document the animals’ condition in case of future litigation. This comprehensive article explains how to create a multidisciplinary rescue team and organize the actual rescue effort. It includes lists of needed supplies and forms and other essentials. Detailed advice on photographing the animals is also given. The article also includes discussions of how to pay for the cost of sheltering the removed animals, how to manage a high number of adoptions, and how to work with the media (with a particular focus on how hoarders may use the media to tell a story quite different from the one found by the rescuers). A final box covers legal justifications and procedural considerations for removing animals from hoarders.

• “Animal Hoarding: Intervention and Management Suggestions for Agencies,” by the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium. No date. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/treatmentrec.html

A short (two page) list of statements about typical hoarders and possible interventions, this fact sheet is useful as an introduction to someone who is peripherally involved with an animal hoarder. In this reviewer’s opinion, it is not sufficient for a direct intervener.

• “Police Now See Cruelty as an Indicator of Domestic Violence, Other Crimes,” by Monica Rhor, The Miami Herald, December 8, 2002. Available at www.broward.com/mld/browardherald/news/local/4685131.htm

Although not specifically about animal hoarders, this newspaper article reports on the Special Victims and Family Crimes Section of the Broward (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, which cross-trains its investigators in “all types of family crime, including animal, child and elder abuse, and domestic violence.”

Media Coverage

• “Press Reports of Animal Hoarding,” by Arnold Arluke, et. al., Society and Animals, 10, 2, 2002. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/hoarding_pubs/press%20reports.pdf

This somewhat academic study is based on the premise that “the power of the news media derives from its ability to elicit emotions in readers,” and that these emotions can in turn “promote action on certain issues by helping ‘new’ social problems gain support and momentum.” The researchers looked at 100 articles about animal hoarders published from 1995 to 2001 in the United States and Great Britain and found five primary emotional themes in the articles: drama, revulsion, sympathy, indignation, and humor. The authors conclude that “[w]hile these themes draw readers’ attention and make disparate facts behind cases understandable by packaging them in familiar formats, they also present an inconsistent picture of animal hoarding that can confuse readers about the nature and significance of this behavior as well as animal abuse, more generally.”

• “Sample of Recent Newspaper Coverage,” by the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/newspaper.html

This is a bibliography of 44 newspaper articles published in the United States from 1997 to 1999. It may help you locate a local story for use in media or lobbying efforts.

Other Resources

• Animal hoarding legislation across the U.S. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/legislat.html

This webpage links to five pieces of legislation: two bills that were offered in New Mexico and Vermont, the Illinois hoarding law, the Illinois law mandating that veterinarians report elder abuse, and a Colorado law that governs animal facilities.

• On-line consultation. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/consult_ed.html

A psychiatrist working with the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium at Tufts University, Edward Messner, M.D., is available for consultation. “Physicians and patients, nationwide, may arrange remote specialty consultations to support their care by accessing the expertise of physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare.”

• Online self-help group for hoarders. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/H-C

This group is for hoarders and/or clutterers with obsessive-compulsive disorder (one theory of the cause of hoarding) who have “a strong desire to improve their living or work spaces.... This is a working list, so be prepared to [make] goals and report back to the group.”

• Pictures of animal hoarders’ homes. Available at www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/photo.html

Available at this website are seven copyrighted pictures showing interiors of the homes of animal hoarders. None of the pictures shows animals, and could be from the homes of those who hoard only inanimate objects.