Hoarding pets – rescue or incarceration?
A television news article this week dealt with a woman whose house was raided by animal control authorities because neighbors had complained about the offensive odor emanating from the premises. When authorities entered the house they found over 100 cats living in this small tract type house, along with several dead cat bodies in the freezer, fecal material described as “two feet deep” on the floors, and cats suffering from various degrees of physical distress. The woman who kept the cats was apparently not living at the house and she told the police that the person or people who normally assisted with the care of her cats had recently been unable to help her. Needless to say, the cats were taken in by the local authorities and placed under the care of local humane groups to be hospitalized as needed and rehabilitated and then farmed out for placement with new homes. This particular incident happened in the Tampa Bay area but could just as easily have occurred pretty much anywhere.
Similar articles appear on the news a couple of times a year, usually dealing with cats but occasionally dogs, birds, horses, and even exotic zoo type animals are the victims, so the problem is out there. It just seems to be overlooked for a prolonged period before it is finally uncovered. Now – I’m no psychologist but the people who are guilty of this sort of behavior are, in my humble veterinary opinion, obviously a little over the edge. I’m sure their behavior probably began in a relatively normal way. A cat or two as pets or adopted from a shelter or off the street may well lead to a sense of self-satisfaction and the rush of feeling the part of the savior. That “high” derived from the sense of having saved these animals may well lead to an urge to repeat this feeling by “saving” more and more animals and each successive “rescue” leads to the need for another fix. In other words, not far into this behavior pattern the need for the rescuer to “save” another animal probably overcomes the actual need for the animal to be saved. No doubt, at some point the environment into which these pets are taken becomes much more detrimental to the well-being of the rescued animal than if it were simply left to its own devices in its natural environment, whether that’s the street, the forests and fields, or whatever. Rescue gradually turns into forced incarceration and an environment of squalor and disease develops.
Now I’m not talking here about the person who is hooked on cats and wants to have 10 or 12 cats but takes pleasure in providing those cats with plenty of personal attention, meticulous care, and proper food and medical attention. That situation is close to the edge but I think it falls short of the dangerous pet hoarder. (However, I have seen this situation turn into a serious abuse scenario simply by that loving and caring owner experiencing a major health problem and the cats suddenly being seriously neglected.) I’m not talking about a bunch of outdoor cats living at a particular address or about a dairy farm where often there are lots of cats who are kept around, fed a little cat food and a lot of surplus milk, in exchange for their services helping to keep the local rodent population in check. Sometimes any pet situation can appear marginal, and the ultimate determining factor should be the quality of the animals’ lives. I’m also not speaking here of legitimate pet rescue people who are out there rescuing strays and lost pets, keeping them temporarily, and fostering or adopting them out to homes with the intent of actually finding long term homes. Such an endeavor requires a boatload of money to keep it going, lots of volunteer labor, and a tremendous sacrifice in space, personal facilities, and private life. The dangerous situation arises when free-roaming cats and/or dogs are “rescued” and locked up in a building and/or in cages where they have no choice but to suffer and waste away at the whim of their captors.
In my line of work I tend to meet up with the people who are caught in the middle ground and are frequently difficult for me to figure out. I think it sneaks up on these people, and one day it dawns on them that maybe things are getting out of hand – an animal is found dead and they didn’t even realize it was sick, or it never dawned on them that it hadn’t shown up to eat for the past several days. Hopefully this scenario serves as a wake-up call to the gradually evolving pet hoarder, but I just never get to know for sure. If this situation sounds familiar to you then maybe you have a problem. Back up and try to look at yourself objectively or ask a friend to be honest with you. Remember, anybody can fall into this category. I’ve seen veterinarians guilty of “compassion overload” who simply cannot turn down a pet in need, even if it is one that will obviously not be place-able or perhaps should be euthanized. Gradually the veterinary hospital is filled with strays and misfits, eventually to the detriment of the hospital’s medical facilities and care. And as a result you, the pet-owning client who trusts in your veterinarian’s good judgment, eventually become a victim of that doctor’s loss of vision.
Take a look at yourself and think about it. Do you have more pets than you can deal with? Can’t keep up with walking all the dogs or cleaning all the litter boxes? Veterinary care has become a thing of the past because you just can’t afford it any more with this many pets? Do you not have time to pick up and/or interact with each of the pets in your household? Do you have messes around the house that you just haven’t gotten around to cleaning up? Are you afraid to let company come over to visit because you don’t want them to see just how many cats you actually have? These are just a few of the warning signs of pet hoarding. Quality of life – for the animal, not for you – is the key. Remember, it’s not about giving yourself a good feeling; it’s about providing a proper, healthy environment for the pet.