You Hoarder!

Hoarder!

Thanks to new and popular T.V. shows, this has become one of the most over-used "curse" words in the animal community today. People with four pets will be called a hoarder by those who only prefer one pet. Rescues with 20 cats in a home will be called a hoarder behind their backs, despite how clean and well cared for the cats might be.

So what IS a hoarder, anyway?

Wikipedia defines animal hoarders as follows:

Animal hoarding involves keeping higher than usual numbers of animals as pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability. Compulsive hoarding can be characterized as a symptom of mental disorder rather than deliberate cruelty towards animals. Hoarders are deeply attached to their pets and find it extremely difficult to let the pets go. They typically cannot comprehend that they are harming their pets by failing to provide them with proper care. Hoarders tend to believe that they provide the right amount of care for their pets.

So what does this mean exactly? If you have one or two pets and are not caring for them properly, you are simply neglectful. But when you have multiple neglected pets, and refuse to see the neglect and cannot let them go, you are a hoarder.

Does this mean that a rescue with 20 cats is a hoarder? Let's think.

The rescuer may have 20 cats in their home. This IS an unusually high number of animals. However, the question becomes - how are they being cared for? Are the litter boxes clean? Are the cats well fed on an appropriate diet? Are they receiving proper and frequent medical care from a licenced Vet? Does this rescuer simply collect and house 20 cats, or do they find loving, forever homes for them?

Many families, with jobs, social lives, kids, and hobbies, are not well equipped to caring for a large number of animals. But some people, like rescuers, will devote a large amount of time, energy, and funds to animal care, and may actually be capable of providing clean, loving care to a large number of animals. They may develop systems to streamline their care, building kennels or purchasing self-cleaning litter boxes. They use proper sanitizers, parasite control, and properly dispose of feces and hair.

The point I am trying to reach here is that not everyone with a large number of animals in their home is a hoarder. This word is hurtful to rescuers who do spend time and money caring for their fosters properly, and giving them every opportunity at a good life.

Be wary of anyone claiming to be a "rescuer" who does not adopt out the animals they receive. The inability to let go of the animals in their care is a big tell tale sign. All rescuers with large numbers of animals should have records for Veterinary care for each of their dogs or cats, including their personal ones. Their facility or home should be clean (no one with any pets has a "white-glove" clean home, so bear in mind that clean is a relative term!) and without large amounts of feces and urine.


I should also mention that breeders, even those of good quality, will usually have more animals than most people, as they should have diverse stock to breed from. The same cleanliness and Vetting standards apply to them too. If you buy a puppy from a location with alot of dogs in it, you may be purchasing from a Puppy Mill and a hoarder. Please report breeders with ill or unclean animals to your local SPCA or Animal Control.