PAWS: Report Animal Cruelty

Hoarding/Excessive Number of Animals

Animal Hoarding is a human behavior that involves the keeping of higher than typical numbers of animals as pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability. Along with other compulsive hoarding behaviors, it is linked in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) to obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

The following criteria are used to define animal hoarding:

More than the typical number of companion animals
Inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness, and death
Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling

If you or someone you know has a problem with hoarding please visit the links below for help. Animal hoarding is a serious psychological disease and can be a violation of current animal cruelty laws. Please do not hesitate to get help; your actions will help improve the lives of both the animals and people involved.

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium - Tufts University
Animal Hoarding

The Humane Society of the United States
Behind Closed Doors: The Horrors of Animal Hoarding

AnimalSheltering.org - A Program of The Humane Society of the United States
Resource Library

Pschiatric Times
People Who Hoard Animals, April 2000

Vashon Island Pet Protectors
Animal Tracks: Animal Hoarders

Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding
Animal Hoarding

                Get Involved

  Current Campaigns

  Volunteer

  Become a Foster Parent

  Just for Kids

  Humane Education

  Live Humanely

Report Animal Cruelty

  Host a Gift Drive

  Sign Up for E-News

  Share a Story

  Internships/Externships

  Resources & Fact Sheets

Donate to PAWS

Just for Kids

Adopt A Pet

Injured/Orphaned Wildlife

Report Animal Cruelty

E-Newsletters

Volunteer

Receive PAWS Magazine