Animal Hoarding
What is an animal hoarder?
An animal hoarder has a very large number of animals, but cannot
provide adequate food, water, sanitation, veterinary care, and is in
denial of that fact.
Typically, animal hoarders exhibit obsessive compulsive behavior, and are ultimately unable to part with their animals.
Effects of Animal Hoarding
Though there is no intent of abuse to the animals, it is in fact considered a form of animal abuse.
Because there are so many animals, they inevitabley end up being
neglected: they’re ill, malnourished, unclean, overcrowded, are living
in unhygienic conditions. These conditions often result in death.
The repercussions of this act also sound on the rest of the
community, which make for an unfortunate and uncomfortable situation
for everyone involved.
There have been quite a few cases of cat hoarders that were
reported to S.P.A.R.E. by concerned neighbours and building tenants,
and we have tried to deal with the problem to the best of our abilities.
In one case, we were asked to intervene between building tenants
and a man who had 40 cats in his home. The tenants contacted us to try
and get him to give up the cats. He was neither financially equipped
to care for 40 cats, nor was he able to physically care for them due to
his advanced age. He simple loved these animals and wanted to give
every cat he saw a home off the streets.
However, due to both his mental and financial status, he was
unable to adequately provide for them, which resulted in an
uncomfortable situation for everyone involved.
The cats were not vaccinated or de-wormed; they had fleas; fought
with each other causing injuries, and were not given proper veterinary
care. Cat feces and urine were all over the house, and the odor was so
over-whelming that it started to spread throughout the building. The
cats weren’t being fed or watered, and many of them were suffering from
terrible diseases. There were also some dead animals that the man had
not disposed of. He also refused to give up any of the cats.
If you know of anyone who faces this problem, please contact us.
Kindly note that we did not take photographs so as not to disturb
the gentleman in any way. The photos here are merely an illustration of
the extent to which animal hoarding can reach.
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