Animal Hoarding
Animal Hoarding
One Household, 390 Suffering Animals
Heavy rain was falling as our
Red Star Animal Emergency Services™ team arrived at the home of an alleged animal “hoarder” or “collector” in
North Carolina. There they were confronted with neglect and suffering on a
scale that shocked even our most seasoned responders.
In one outlying shed, the smell was overpowering as crates filled with
cats, mice and other small mammals were stacked floor-to-ceiling. Some
crates had as many as five cats in them. No food or water dishes were in the
poor animals’ cages, which were covered in feces and urine. The tiny
building had only one small window -- barely cracked open to let in some
desperately needed fresh air.
Meanwhile, several bony, malnourished dogs were chained outdoors with no
shelter. A few neglected, slime-covered water bowls were nearby. The
dogs’ skin was bright pink with mange, clearly visible through their
thinning hair and in bare patches where they’d already lost their fur to the
disease.
On the porch of the house, confined in a cage was a small husky puppy,
soaking wet from a gutter overflowing from the pouring rain, and crying
miserably.
Inside the house, a box filled with 40 parakeets was just one of many
other atrocities discovered.
As the rescuers slogged their way through the mud and muck on the property,
they also found sugar gliders, an injured llama, rabbits, horses and pygmy
goats. It’s no wonder the operation was dubbed “Noah’s Ark” by the local
media.
Altogether, 390 animals were living in pain, hunger and thirst, the
helpless victims of an apparent hoarding situation. Hoarding is considered a
psychological disorder that compels people to collect pets, often creating
situations that get terribly out of hand.
Help the Animal Victims of Hoarding
Working with local law enforcement, the North Carolina Department of
Agriculture, the North Carolina State Animal Response team, the Lincoln
County Emergency Management Agency and others last year, we helped relocate
and care for the animals at an emergency shelter for several weeks. They
have since recovered and have been adopted into new, loving homes -- homes
where the nightmarish conditions they suffered through will become distant
memories.
Sadly, however, these pets’ stories are not as unusual as you might think.
According to the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, an estimated
250,000 animals are victimized by hoarders every year in the United States.
Your donation today will help fund our efforts to save pets like those
in North Carolina and other hoarding situations -- and many other animal
victims of manmade and natural disasters. Please give what you can to ensure
that innocent animals receive the assistance and love they deserve!
Our mission is to create a more humane and compassionate world by ending
abuse and neglect of children and animals.
American Humane is committed to the responsible stewardship of donated funds
and to meeting the highest standards of public accountability, program
effectiveness and cost effectiveness.
SOURCE: AMERICAN HUMANE: http://www.americanhumane.org/.
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the Editor: Linda Beane Ljbeane1@aol.com
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