Animal Hoarding:An Overlooked and Misunderstood Problem

By Karen Lynn Cassiday, Ph.d., A.C.T., Anixiety & Agoraphobia Treatment Center, Northbrook & Chicago, IL

When most people hear animal hoarding, they recall shocking news stories or imagine the "crazy cat lady." They immediately side with the plight of the rescued animals, but rarely do they imagine what the lives of the hoarder must be like, or what led to the hoarding. The tragedy of animal hoarding is that most animal hoarders suffer the same fate as object hoarders--they fall victim to their good intentions and end up emotionally overwhelmed, socially isolated and ultimately aliented from family and friends. The problem of animal hoarding causes great suffering for both the animals and humans. When discover, it also poses great expense for local shelters and may even necessitate regional national efforts to find homes for a large number of animals..." More