Animal Hoarding

Animal hoarding is an obsession that is growing in victims and recognition throughout the world today. The typical animal hoarder has a serious psychological condition called obsessive compulsive disorder. Animal hoarders also may be suffering from different kinds of addictions, delusional disorder, attachment disorder, dementia, and even zoophilia. These people feel they have the responsibility to keep and care for an overabundant amount of animals, thinking that they are helping these creatures. In reality, these pet owners are only putting their animals through abuse and neglect because it is impossible for them to provide the proper care for such a large number of pets. These owners are not only harming their animals with malnourishment, overcrowding, and unsanitary conditions, but they are also putting their selves in danger of many health risks. Many animal hoarders become sick because they are living in such horrible sanitary conditions: they are more susceptible to zoonotic diseases such as rabies, and they neglect themselves and their families because they are so involved in caring for their animals. Animal hoarders also face potential conviction by the law because of their compulsive actions. Many cities have limits on how many pets per household and animal protection and cruelty laws.

The definition of hoarding is the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value that clutter living spaces enough that they can not be used for the activities for which they were designed causing significant distress or impairment in functioning (Squalor Survivors, 2008). Frost estimates that 2% to 3% of the population has OCD, and up to a third of those exhibit hoarding behavior (Squalor Survivors, 2008). That is an exceptionally high percentage of people suffering from this strange disease. Studies show that people who hoard say they do it for sentimental value, utility value and aesthetic