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Animal hoarding can quickly reach a point of criminal behavior when animals are suffering. The results in many cases are gruesome and horrifying. Such cases often also involve children or elders who live with the hoarder and are suffering along with the animals.

You can find a lot of information about animal hoarding at the website for the Hoarding of Animal Research Consortium:

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/

Quote "the depth of the pathology underlying this behavior is just beginning to be uncovered"

This document analyzes the causes and treatment strategies:

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/pubs/AnimalHoarding_WEB.pdf

They also categorize types of animal hoarders ranging from the "overwhelmed caregiver" to the "exploiter hoarder" (the underlying causes of their behavior may be different) in this document:

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/pubs/AngellReport.pdf

Regarding laws against animal hoarding, you can go to the Animal Legal Defense Fund:

http://www.aldf.org/article.php?id=250

They also have a compendium of state laws regarding animal protection:

http://www.aldf.org/article.php?id=259

Illinois is the only state whose criminal animal protection law recognizes "hoarders" as a specific type of animal abuser, and any hoarder convicted of animal cruelty is required to have a psychological evaluation and treatment. More states should follow suit and should also prohibit possession of animals following any cruelty conviction.

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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