Academic Research On Hoarders

Here’s some very useful information on hoarders, from one of our readers:

Dear Dr. Chan,

I appreciate that you feel strongly about the Hoarders that you encountered. I feel particularly saddened that they are animal hoarders that exist among our community and sadder still for animals involved.

So far, I had not personally encountered animal hoarders but mostly object hoarders. If someone I encountered brings in a pet to a vet and get the appropriate medical treatments and feed it and care for appropriately most probably are not hoarders.

The ones I encountered frequently are irresponsible pet owners and Backlane breeders. The main perpetrators for increase population of street/stray animals are irresponsible pet owners as Backlane and illegal home breeders are mushrooming all over is due to simple demand and supply. Pet owners demand for pets creates the breeder who supply them through various channel of distributions.

We have picked many and sent for treatments the unwanted ones and the ones that left on our main gate by our neighbourhood breeder who sells the �up to standard� one to the pet shop and discard the unwanted ones in the monsoon drain. The latest was a mixed breed (half Persian) with half of his back skin ripped off; were left bleeding and dying but managed to climb over our wall and lay waiting for us bleeding with very high temperature and diarrhea on the mat in our front door. Only eat dry cat food so he must belong to some owner before.

Before I sidetracked too much I came across these write up by Animal Planet on Animal Hoardings which I would like to bring to your attention.

� It is easy in this situation to blame hoarder as it is assume his/hers action is intentional but according to American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (ASPCA) animal hoarders are generally believe that they are helping the creatures under their care.�

Many experts in mental disorder like OCD contribute to this condition. To overcome this disorder hoarders often need a combination of anti depression and therapy.�

But it is tough for animal hoarder to get on the road of recovery without support.

FIVE (5) THINGS TO DO TO HELP AN ANIMAL LOVER BREAK OUT THE HOARDING CYCLES

Step 1

See The Signs

Before approaching a suspected hoarder directly or enlist the help of others; it is best to confirm as best as you can that hoarding is taking place.

According to Dr Karen Cassidy owner of Anxiety and Acrophobia Treatment Center in Chicago the key red flags to look for is the best standard to determine between having a lot of pets or having too many pets is to have the ability to maintain a clean, healthy and safe home environment and able to take of themselves and family.

Pay home visit to asses the condition of their pets or their home. Neglected animals will likely appear

(1)��������� Malnourished

(2)��������� Have matted fur

(3)��������� Open or recently healing wounds

Hoarders home will be clustered with other objects like magazines, newspapers and boxes etc.

Step 2

Reach Out

If you have a personal relationship with the hoarder try to meet the person to express your concern and offer your assistance.

If you do not have a personal relationship with the hoarder try to get a friend or family member to do so. �Animal hoarders rarely seek treatment unless those who love them motivate them to do so�.

Come arm with an open and empathetic attitude. Even if hoarders� situation seems deplorable or disgusting from your point of view. Keep in mind that animal hoarders truly believe that they are doing no harm to animals under their roof.

Avoid confronting them with their failures and animal neglect but instead try to get them to talk about what would be the best way to ensure that animals get the best as possible and how much easier their lives would be if they have fewer animals.

Step 3

Pool Your Resources

Ideally the hoarder would respond and vow to take steps to change his/hers environment and related behavior after the hoarder had discussion with someone who is close to him/her.

Arm yourself with resources that the hoarders can take advantage of i.e. animal rescue NGO, mental health agencies etc. Offer the hoarder to get help and connected to those who are professionally trained to treat hoarding issues. Enlist the help of hoarder�s family/friends/neighbours. Keep on checking on their progress.

Step 4

Rescue The Animals

Be prepared for the possibility that the animal hoarder remain unresponsive to discussions and intervention effort. The next option is to remove the animals forcibly.

Step 5

Stay In Touch

After taking away the animal forcibly the animal hoarder will need all the support he or she can get.

Many animal hoarders have few alternatives activities to help them feel productive since their lives are consumed with attempts of animal care.

Simply removing all the animals from hoarder�s home will not teach him/her to manage life and prevent additional hoarding.

If you are the one who intervened on behalf of the hoarder�s welfare; it is important not to abandon him/her during the fallout.

Keep in touch with the hoarder and encourage him/her to continue seeking therapy. No doubt support will go a long way toward helping the hoarder achieve a long term recovery and hopefully some happiness too.

(Ref� Confessions: Animal Hoarding-Animal Planet)

HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND STOP ANIMAL HOARDING

�by The STOLA Education Group

Saluki Tree of Life Alliance, http://www.stola.org

SIGNS OF AN ANIMAL HOARDER

�Hoarders are most often older women who live alone.

� Hoarders typically have no support network of family or friends.

� Hoarders are typically on disability, retired or unemployed.

� Up to 2000 cases of hoarding are known to occur in theU.S.each year.

�While hoarders profess their love for animals, hoarding is not about love

but about control.

� Hoarding is considered a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Hoarders are mentally ill.

�Hoarders are usually in a state of complete denial; they do not see the

destruction they cause.

� Hoarding is defined not by the numbers of animals, but by the way they

are kept.

�Hoarders put their personal and community health at risk.

� Hoarders fail to provide even minimal standards of care or sanitation.

� Homes of hoarders are usually in such filthy condition that the premises

have to be destroyed.

�Even if convicted of hoarding, hoarders are usually able to move and

begin the cycle again–there is almost a 100% rate of repetition.

�A COORDINATED APPROACH TO STOPPING AN ANIMAL HOARDER

1. Identification: First identify the problem. A person with a lot of animals

is not necessarily a hoarder. If the animals are

well kept, well exercised, well fed, and given adequate medical care then

hoarding is not an issue. Signs of hoarding include

poorly maintained animals kept in filthy conditions. Gaining access to a

property to determine its condition, however, can

be a big problem if the suspected hoarder does not allow visits to the

home – which is usually the case.

2. Intervention: Contacting family or close friends and asking for their

cooperation in dealing with the problem may be

helpful if done in a sensitive and compassionate manner. A

compassionate approach is often the most effective and should

always be the first option. Hoarders are often mentally ill, aged, infirm,

and/or living on fixed incomes. While some may

reject offers of help, others will gratefully accept. The main concern is

ensuring that the animals get adequate care.

3. Preparation: Gather facts which will be essential if the authorities are

to be contacted. If the hoarder will not permit visits inside the residence,

exterior signs may give warning as to interior conditions. Warning signs of

unsanitary living conditions

may include:

�Obstructed exits

�Nonfunctional utilities including running water, electricity, etc.

�Inadequate light and ventilation

�Nonfunctional kitchen facilities

�Improper garbage disposal

�Obvious odors emanating from the property

�Rodent infestations

� Potential fire hazards, i.e. accumulated trash, overgrown dead

foliage, etc.

4. Recruit a Team: A number of agencies and/or individuals can form a

consortium to do a positive intervention including animal control, breed

rescue organization, health department, veterinarian, family members or

close friends of the hoarder. Veterinarians can be a tremendous help or a

hindrance in hoarding cases. If you can gain the trust of the presumed

hoarder’s veterinarian(s) the following are warning signs which may

indicate a hoarder:

�Veterinary warning signs: A constantly changing parade of pets,

most seen once and not again -

�Visits for problems not usually seen in good preventive health

carelike trauma or infections disease

�Rarely bringing in the same animal for diseases of old age such as

cancer or heart disease

�Suspected hoarder may travel great distances to the practice,

come at odd hours and use multiple vets so as not to tip

them off about the number of animals

�May seek heroic and futile care for animals

� May perfume or bathe animals prior to a visit to conceal odor

�May bring in a relatively presentable animal in an attempt to get

medication for more seriously ill animals at home

�May try to persuade the vet to give medication or refills without

seeing the animals

�Being unwilling or unable to say how many animals they have

�May claim to have just found or rescued an animal in obviously

deplorable condition although the condition of the animal, including strong

odor of urine, overgrown nails and muscle atrophy, may be more

indicative of confinement in filthy conditions than of wandering the streets

� May show interest in acquiring even more animals, including

checking the office bulletin board and questioning other clients in the

waiting room. Be aware of this twist: hoarders may seek employment or

volunteer opportunities with veterinary clinics, perhaps on a part-time

basis, to have access to free or discounted medications or supplies.

5. Keep Detailed Records: Gather all evidence and facts in a detailed

manner. Meticulous record keeping is essential to provide necessary

evidence to obtain search warrants, serious consideration by animal

control and so on. If photographic evidence is gathered, be sure to log

the photographer’s name, date and time the picture was taken, location

of the photo, and names of witnesses. Attach this information to the back

of the photo. Often complaints to authorities must be made within

72 hours of suspected animal abuse. Keep duplicate copies of all

evidence.

6. Contact Authorities: This may require extreme patience and

persistence. Animal control is often hampered by privacy laws and cannot

intervene without hard evidence of potential abuse and/or a signed

statement from a witness. It may be necessary to contact several

agencies such as animal control, local health department, social services,

breed rescue group, etc. to create an interactive intervention process.

7. Patience, Persistence, Determination: Never give up. The animals are

depending on you. Getting justice for the animals and getting them out of

an abuser’s control can take weeks, months, or even years but for all the

animals who are saved from a hellish existence, the effort is definitely

worth it.

8. Preventing the Abuse Cycle: Even if convicted of animal abuse,

hoarders are highly likely to begin hoarding again. In most cases the laws

fail in not monitoring the activity of a convicted hoarder allowing them to

begin the cycle of abuse all over again. The only way to prevent a

hoarder from beginning again is through public awareness, education and

vigilance. If you suspect that hoarding is occurring in your community

don’t turn a blind eye. Become a voice for the animals who cannot

speak for themselves.

References

Dombkiewicz, Ray (2005), The Elektra Rescue: A Personal View, STOLA website

http://www.stola.org * Frost RO, Gross RC (1993),The hoarding of possessions. Behav Res Ther

31(4):367-381. * Frost RO, Hartl TL (1996), A cognitive-behavioral model of compulsive hoarding.

Behav Res Ther 34(4):341-350 [see comment]. * Frost RO, Hartl TL, Christian R, Williams N (1995),

The value of possessionsin compulsive hoarding: patterns of use and attachment. Behav Res Ther

33(8):897-902. * Frost RO, Kim HJ, Morris C et al. (1998),Hoarding, compulsive buying and reasons

for saving. Behav Res Ther 36(7-8):657-664 [see comment]. * Frost RO, Krause MS, SteketeeG

(1996), Hoarding and obsessivecompulsive symptoms. Behav Modif 20(1):116-132. * Frost RO,

Steketee G (1998), Hoarding: clinical aspects and treatment strategies. In: Obsessive Compulsive

Disorders: Practical Management, 3rd ed., Jenike MA, Baer L,MinichielloWE, eds.St. Louis: Mosby

Inc., pp533-554. * Frost RO, Williams L, Steketee G (1999), Compulsive buying: relationship to OCD

and OCD hoarding. Paper presented

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/03/04/academic-research-on-hoarders/

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