San Diego Wants A Way To Deal With Hoarders

BY TOM FUDGE

Society is fascinated with people who acquire huge amounts of junk they can't throw away. And it's spawned at least one reality TV show, called Hoarders. But finding a way to deal with hoarders is not entertaining. Hoarding can cause neighborhood nuisances and public safety problems. That's why people have come together in San Diego county to try to create a consistent and effective community response to hoarding.

If you lived next door to a person who's home was a mess, and that mess was bursting out of the house and onto his lawn or driveway, you might complain to city hall. Complain enough, and word may eventually get to Diane Silva-Martinez. She's chief deputy for code enforcement with the San Diego City Attorney's office, and she said hoarding comes to her attention once it's gotten very bad.

"Usually when the case is out of control. Usually when a neighborhood has had it. Typically when a case comes to me it's from a code inspector or it's directly from the community," she said, "and the property has been in that condition for many, many years. So you have rats now that are affecting the neighborhood. There's concern for the person's safety inside."

Martinez is one of many people who attended a conference on hoarding this month at the Balboa Park Club. The San Diego Hoarding Collaborative convened the conference. The collaborative was formed last summer with the goal of developing a community response to hoarding which can be used in all jurisdictions. Cities are already dealing with hoarders, of course. Allen Edwards is a La Mesa code enforcement officer who's seen his share of problem properties.

"It can be an extreme where their plumbing is out. Their water is shut off. We don't know how they're using the bathroom. We don't know how they bathe but their neighbors maybe have a clue that they're doing this in the backyard," said Edwards.

Chuck Strickland is the La Mesa Fire Marshall. He said the sheer amount of junk hoarders keep in their homes creates a fire hazard that's very dangerous to residents and to fire fighters.

"Firefighters are going in there and the fires are far more intense," said Strickland. "It's far more difficult to find victims inside there. They have things falling on them. So the likelihood of somebody being injured or dying is just dramatically increased."

Psychologists say hoarders have a psychiatric problem that's closely related to obsessive compulsive disorder. A large number of problem hoarders are old folks. Mark Odom is a clinical social worker in Orange County. He said he's seen cases involving people who are bed-bound, who spend their days ordering new stuff..." More

Alice Via, Lakeside Boxer Rescue - San Diego, CA

Dog Rescuer Raided for Animal Neglect

by: Lynn Stuart

Animal Control Officers rescue five dozen dogs from what was supposed to be a safe place.

The Boxer Rescue in Lakeside has been operated by Alice Via for years, now she faces felony animal neglect charges and numerous other lesser charges according to Investigators.

Animal Control Officer Mitchell Levy says the dogs were stacked in crates at least two high throughout the home. "A lot of them had no water. A lot of them had feces, a lot of them had two-, three-day old vomit in them. It's an unusual situation."

The news comes as a big shock to others in the rescue community. They say Via had such a good reputation for rescuing dogs, that she was allowed to take animals from local shelters.

"They start with the best of intentions. They think they can provide the best home for these dogs, but obviously this person got overwhelmed," says Lt. Dan DeSousa.

DeSousa says the dogs were only allowed out of their crates once a day.

"A lot of these animals have medical conditions, skin conditions. A lot of the dogs also have problems with their pads and other noses from trying to get out of the crates," says DeSousa.

Operators with other rescues say Via had recently contacted them asking for help and wanting foster homes for some of her dogs..." More & video

San Diego Hoarding Conference

Conference offers peek into hoarding

Event educates professionals on how to detect, treat mental disorder

By PAUL SISSON

Speakers at San Diego County's first conference on hoarding repeatedly returned to one central message Friday morning: Hoarding is not a choice.

Mark Odom, a hoarding expert from Orange County, told a crowd of interested professionals from diverse parts of government that they should get over the notion that people choose to stuff their homes with worthless junk.

"What we've discovered is it's not a decision, it's a disorder," Odom said.

The purpose of the conference was to help professionals better understand hoarding behavior and to connect those who might encounter it through their jobs with the mental health community that can offer treatment.

Hoarding is typically defined as an obsessive need to collect and keep items, even those with little or no value, regardless of the negative consequences that can result in a person's life and home. The disorder recently gained national attention through reality television shows that highlight the behavior and the personal devastation it can cause.

But experts have known about the problem for years. In 2004, Odom helped found the Orange County Task Force on Hoarding, with the goal of developing a comprehensive approach to identifying and helping individuals with the disorder. San Diego County officials are working on a similar effort, and Friday's conference was part of that response..." More

Video Report on the San Diego Hoarding Conference