Animal hoarding a complex issue

People who love animals will always be upset when they hear about an animal hoarding situation. Two of the emotions felt may be sympathy for the animals and anger for the person who created the problem. However, animal hoarding is an extremely complicated issue — and it comes with numerous explanations and causes. One point everyone agrees on is that animal hoarding is heartbreaking for the animals caught in these tragic circumstances.

When the animal hoarding situation hits mainstream media, some people will jump to the assumption of guilty for the individual involved. Others start online bashing on different social media platforms. People will demand jail time and all costs associated with the seizure of the animals be charged back to the hoarder. But animal hoarding is not that cut and dry.

There is no single straightforward solution for animal hoarding. In the majority of cases, the individual does not start out with a plan to hoard animals. They especially do not start out wanting to hurt or cause stress for the animals involved. An individual may take in a few stray cats thinking they are protecting them from the harshness of living outside. Sadly, in cases involving cats, the animals begin to breed, and the situation quickly snowballs out of control. People may hear the homeowner is taking in stray cats and they begin to drop off unwanted cats, hoping they will be taken into the household.

Hoarders usually start with sincere intentions to help homeless animals. They feed and care for the unloved animals. They may also not be aware the animals are not spayed, neutered or even pregnant. A few months later, the situation can quickly escalate, and they find themselves overwhelmed by the animals and may be embarrassed to ask for help. Some hoarders may be depressed or emotionally troubled and, in this situation, the individual may not see that many animals in their care are suffering.

Individuals who seem to be a high risk of becoming an animal hoarder tend to be widowed, single or elderly. They may be isolated from family, friends, social groups or even separated from their community.

Instead of shaming animal hoarders, please consider offering to help the animals. If the animals have been seized, please consider donating funds or pet supplies to support the animals. The authorities will thoroughly investigate the hoarding situation. If charges are warranted, they will make the right decision based on the case.

There may be an animal hoarding situation in your community. A few warnings to look out for may include dirty windows, foul smells seeping from the house, the homeowner cannot confidently say how many animals live in the house or the animals you can see from the street appear stressed or unclean.

If you think there is someone in your community or neighbourhood struggling with pets, please consider offering assistance or call your local SPCA. Every hoarder is not an animal abuser. They are people who had good intentions who thought they were helping abandoned animals.

Please be kind to animals.

Tracy Jessiman is a pet portrait artist who lives in Halifax with her husband and their three pets. She has been rescuing animals most of her life, but more intimately, animals rescued her.