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Collecting stamps or coins is harmless, but collecting live animals becomes harmful when the collector cannot properly care for them. Dog hoarders suffer from mental illnesses and cannot provide basic care for their animals. Animal hoarding has far-reaching effects, including physical and psychological trauma for both animals and hoarders. Animal welfare organizations and volunteers often help to rehome animals removed from hoarding situations.
Some people collect stamps or coins as a hobby. These collections are harmless and provide collectors with a source of joy and relaxation. Collecting things becomes harmful when it is the sole focus of that person’s activities or the collections start to outgrow the person and his or her residence. The tragedy is further compounded when the person collects live animals. A dog hoarder is someone who keeps large numbers of dogs without the ability to properly care for them.
Proper animal care at its most basic level involves the provision of adequate food, shelter, water, veterinary care, and a safe and hygienic living environment. Dog hoarders are unable to provide all or most of these things to the animals they care for and deny their ability to care for the animals they have. Simply put, a dog hoarder is someone who has too many dogs to properly care for.
Animal hoarding is not a term used to define people who breed dogs, rescue dogs, or keep large numbers of dogs as companions. The distinguishing factor is the ability to provide assistance. A person who rescues and finds dog homes or raises dogs is not a dog hoarder. However, people involved in these activities sometimes become dog collectors and refuse to give up their pets.
Hoarders often suffer from delusions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or other mental illnesses. Compulsive hoarding is considered a mental illness and can be managed using therapies and medications. There is no legal standard to distinguish cases of hoarding. Most jurisdictions that handle hoarding cases involving live animals can only pursue lawsuits based on local animal cruelty laws.
The effects of animal hoarding are far-reaching. Animals entrusted to the dog hoarder may be malnourished, sickly, and left wallowing in their own filth. The same situation often extends to the accumulator, who may suffer from lack of care, personal hygiene and nutrition. Some diseases can pass from dogs to humans and other animals in contact with this environment.
Psychological and physical trauma is a lasting consequence for both the animal and the dog hoarder. Dogs have been known to turn on each other or their guardian, in severe overcrowding due to hoarding. Due to a lack of individual attention, animals are often untrained and can develop wild tendencies.
Dogs that exhibit excessive fear, aggression, or physical illness as a result of hoarding are often euthanized. Other dogs removed by dog hoarders are often cleaned up, groomed, and moved into new homes with the help of animal welfare and rescue organizations. The influx of dogs from a hoarding situation puts strain on an already stressed infrastructure, causing problems for animal welfare organizations and vets. Sometimes hundreds of volunteers are needed to deal with the consequences of accumulation situations.
