Useful OCHD Links.

   Hoarding by the Elderly.

   Animal Hoarding.

1 form of Hoarding is the Hoarding of Animals which can cause much distress to and problems for all parties involved.

1. Animal Hoarding: Center for Animals and Public Policy.
   SOURCE: TUFTS, Center for Animals and Public Policy.
   Animal Hoarding Research. "Animal hoarding, sometimes known as collecting, is a poorly understood phenomenon with serious consequences for animal health and welfare, as well as human health and welfare..."
   
   
2. The role of excuses.
   By Gary J. Patronek, VMD, PhD.
   SOURCE: Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium.
   2003.
   "One of the more exasperating parts of the expreience working with an animal hoarder is the wide range of excuses that are offered for the behavior and the substandard condition of the animals and the environment. The above referenced article provides an interesting perspective on the normal and adaptive role excuses play in our daily lives..."
   This is a PDF File.
   
   
3. The reality of animal hoarding.
   SOURCE: Tufts. "Hoarding by defintion is a condition in which animals are deprived of even minimal standards of care. The consequences of this deprivation vary in each situation, depending on..."
   
   
   
4. Handling Animal Collectors, Part 1: Interventions That Work.
   By Geoffrey L. Handy.
   SOURCE: Animal Sheltering Online HSUS.
   "The scene is a familiar one to virtually every humane agency in the country: A dilapidated house, or perhaps a trailer or even an old school bus, with the smell of urine noticeable from outside...a dark interior, with animals scurrying about, and an..."
   
   
5. Handling Animal Collectors, Part 2: Managing a Large-scale Rescue Operation
   By Geoffrey L. Handy
   SOURCE: Animal Sheltering Online HSUS.
   "When officers for the Brazos Animal Shelter and Humane Society/SPCA (P.O. Box 4191, Bryan, TX 77805) first received complaints about a large number of animals being kept in poor conditions last summer, they weren't entirely prepared for what would come next. Soon, however, those officers and a slew of people assisting them were..."
   
   
6. The role of the media in framing public understanding.
   SOURCE: Society and Animals.
   2002.
   "Abstract: This article explores how the press reports nonhuman animal hoarding and hoarders. It discusses how 100 articles from 1995 to the present were content analyzed. Analysis revealed five emotional themes that include..."
   This is a PDF File.
   
   
7. Health Implications of Animal Hoarding.
   SOURCE: In: Health& Social Work, Volume 27, pp.125- 136.
   May 2002.
   "Abstract: Animal Hoarding is a poorly understood phenomenon the public health implications of which are not well documented. In this study, professionals with with hoarding cases submitted 71 case report forms. The hoarder's residences were characterized by extreme clutter and poor sanitation that impaired ability to maintain functional households..."
   Pay-To-View Article.
   
   
8. Tips for veterinarians involved in removal or rescue of animals from hoarding situations.
   SOURCE: Center for Animals and Public Policy.
   December 9, 2002.
   By Gary J. Patronek, VMD, PhD.
   "Ideally, veterinary involvment should occur at the earliest possible stages when a rescue is being contemplated. If possible, it is helpful to include the veterinarian on the investigative team to view the condition on site. Proper planning is the key to making what will always be a challenging process go as smoothly as possible. You need to be ready for anything and everything - expect the unexpected..."
   
   
9. People Who Hoard Animals.
   SOURCE: Psychiatric Times, April 2000 Vol. XVII Issue 4.
   ARTICLE: By The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium.
   Corresponding Author Randy Frost, Ph.D.
   "Over 600 animals were found in the home of a Los Angeles woman, arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty. Some of the animals were already dead and some so ill they had to be euthanized by Animal Services. The woman insisted the animals were well-cared for and her home was clean, despite physical evidence to the contrary..."
   
   
10. Animal hoarders offend, perplex. Filth and deterioration often follow
    SOURCE: The Cincinnati Enquirer.
    By Karen Samples.
    Sunday, January 07, 2001.
    "NORWOOD - Every night, the old woman slept upright in a chair. She had no choice. Her cats - more than 50 of them - had destroyed everything else..."
    
    
    
11. Animal Hoarders: A NYSHA Fact Sheet.
    What is an animal hoarder?
    " A person who amasses more animals than he/she can properly take care for. Such individuals generally fail to recognize - or refuse to acknowledge - when the animals in their custody become victims of gross neglect..."
    This is a PDF File.
    
    
12. Serial Collectors: Animal Hoarders "Love" Their Pets to Death.
    SOURCE: VetCentric Maganzine. June 15, 2003.
    Written by: Wes Alwan.
    The strange case of Vicki Kittles.
    "There is the strange case of Vicki Kittles, who in April, 1993, was found living on a school bus in Astoria, Oregon, with 115 dogs, four cats, and two chickens. The animals she claimed she would rather die than lose were themselves dying slow, horrible deaths - starving, diseased, and living with their caretaker in filth..."
    
    
13. Handling Animal Collectors, Part 1: Interventions That Work
    SOURCE: Shelter Sense, published by The Humane Society of the United States. May-June 1994 issue.
    By Geoffrey L. Handy.
    "The scene is a familiar one to virtually every humane agency in the country: A dilapidated house, or perhaps a trailer or even an old school bus, with the smell of urine noticeable from outside...a dark interior, with animals scurrying..."
    
    
14. Handling Animal Collectors, Part 2: Managing a Large-scale Rescue Operation.
    SOURCE: Shelter Sense, published by The Humane Society of the United States.
    July 1994 issue.
    By Geoffrey L. Handy.
    "When officers for the Brazos Animal Shelter and Humane Society/SPCA (P.O. Box 4191, Bryan, TX 77805) first received complaints about a large number of animals being kept in poor conditions last summer, they weren't entirely..."
    
    
15. ANIMAL HOARDING: A public health problem veterinarians can take a lead role in solving.
    SOURCE: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
    October 15, 2002.
    "The stories are horrific - floors soaked in urine and covered in feces, cats and dogs living among carcasses, dozens of animals so malnourished and ill they must be euthanatized - but alarmingly common..."
    
    
16. Animals in bondage: the hoarding mind.
    SOURCE: Animal People January/February 1999.
    "LYLES, Tenn.; ANAMOSA, Iowa; SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--Near Lyles, Tennessee, the shelterless Hickman County Humane Society just before Christmas 1998 seized 299 dogs, 38 horses, and various cats from an alleged puppy mill reportedly..."
    
    
17. When Helping Becomes Hoarding.
    SOURCE: By Faith Maloney: Director of Animal Care at Best Friends.
    When does the desire to help animals spill over into a serious psychiatric condition?
    
    
    
18. Loving Animals to Death.
    SOURCE: From Animal Issues, Volume 30, Number 2. Summer 1999.
    By Tina Perry.
    "The animal "collector," sometimes known as a "hoarder," is a familiar person to us all. These "animal lovers" reside in almost every community throughout the United States, if not the world. You may even know someone like this, a person who tends to keep to themselves, someone who is always available to rescue a stray dog, cat or any animal in need. This may seem to be a selfless act of kindness until you enter the mind and home of a true animal collector..."
    
    
19. Animal Hoarding.
    SOURCE: Adapted from "Animal Sheltering Magazine,"
    July/August 1999.
    Wisconsin House Rabbit News.
    "The compulsive collecting of animals is an under-recognized mental health problem. In 1999, House Rabbit Society chapters encountered rabbit hoarders in Minneapolis (>400 rabbits), Sacramento (>200 rabbits) and San Diego (>50 rabbits). Dane County Humane Society encounters a hoarder about every other year. Caring for these confiscated animals, which are often in poor health, places a huge, unexpected drain on limited rescuer resources..."
    
    
    
20. Pathological collectors of creatures believe they are rescuers. Animal hoarders are typically single females who live alone.
    SOURCE: www.post-gazette.com.
    Thursday, March 23, 2000.
    By Sally Kalson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer.
    "There's a term for amassing so many pets that one's home becomes overrun, imperiling the life and health of creatures and humans alike..."
    
    
21. The Collector.
    SOURCE: www.metroactive.com.
    By Kelly Luker.
    "Kindly eccentrics who feed hundreds of 'pets' may be suffering from a recently identified mental disorder which causes them, literally, to love their animals to death and later deny it..."
    
    
22. Kindness Gone Bad.
    SOURCE: Planet- Pets.com.
    "People who are tormented by the dog and cat overpopulation crisis sometimes try to help by keeping large numbers of animals in their homes or in so-called "no-kill shelters." However, all too often, though these people may begin with the best of intentions, many quickly find themselves overwhelmed with both work and expenses, and the situation for the animals they have taken in deteriorates, sometimes to a horrific degree..."
    
    
23. Loving animals to death.
    SOURCE: http://www.Salon.com.
    By Chris Colin.
    "Animal hoarders think they're helping their furry friends, but mostly they're just feeding their own twisted psyches..."
    
    
24. Animal Hoarding: Profile of an Animal Hoarder.
    SOURCE: Best Friends.
    Feature: When "Helping" Is Hoarding
    May 8, 2003
    "The Victorville, California, hoarder is by no means an unusual case. Her particular case coincided with dozens more at the same time, all across the country..."
    
    
25. Animal Hoarding: Finally, Help Arrives.
    SOURCE: Best Friends.
    May 8, 2003.
    "In Victorville, California, humane groups are racing to help nearly 300 animals caught in the web of an animal hoarder.
    "It was the worst animal disaster I've ever seen," reported Kathi Schlintz (photo right) of PAL Humane Society in Victorville, California. Kathi was describing the conditions at a local "rescue ranch" in the area. "There were dead rats, feces, trash, and sick animals everywhere..."
    
    
26. Animal Hoarding.
    SOURCE: Best Friends.
    Feature: When "Helping" Is Hoarding
    May 8, 2003
    "The Victorville, California, hoarder is by no means an unusual case. Her particular case coincided with dozens more at the same time, all across the country..."
    
    

If you have a link you would like to see added concerning Animal Hoarding, feel free to use this Form.