Menagerie mania: Animal house littered with critters

BY CELESTE BUSK

We've seen the reality TV shows with people who hoard all sorts of stuff.

Now, there's a new one, but instead of too many knickknacks, it's animals being hoarded.

A new six-part series that profiles people who hoard large numbers of pets in deplorable living conditions begins Wednesday on Animal Planet.

"Confessions: Animal Hoarding," airing at 8 p.m., takes a documentary-style look at animal hoarding, the people and pets affected, and the challenges of confronting the psychological condition.

Some people hoard everything from cats and dogs to birds, fish and farm animals. In most cases, the psychological disorder goes unaddressed until animal control or the health department arrives and the pet owner is ordered to give up the pets, be fined or face a prison term...." More

Animal Planets: Confessions - Animal Hoarding airs July 21

CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING is a new docu-reality series that takes an unflinching, honest look at animal hoarding, the people and pets affected, and the challenges of confronting this psychological condition. Animal hoarding is defined as the compulsive need to possess and control animals and often involves the acquisition of a high and unmanageable number of animals.

Not yet formally recognized as a distinct psychological disorder, Animal hoarding in most cases goes unaddressed until it becomes a crime...until now. Each episode delves into the hearts and minds of individuals who hoard a variety of species (cats, dogs, birds, farm animals, fish, etc.); the series also provides an opportunity for family members and friends to help their loved ones and prevent them from spinning further out of control. Having no previous established protocol, the series coordinates task-force interventions by psychologists, animal welfare experts, veterinarians, friends and families to help individuals recognize the root of their issues and take healthy steps to address their animal hoarding.

More info including pictures and episode descriptions: here

"Hoarders" can't stack up to "OCD Project's" humanity

Joanne Ostrow

If you've seen one hoarder, you've got the idea.

As the A&E series makes clear, there's a deep-seated inability to let go that typifies those out-of-control collectors of junk and daily ephemera. It's a real pathology, but it's not ideally suited to television. "Hoarders," in its second season, tends to be repetitious.

The camera wallows in the accumulation and records the interpersonal angst the mess causes; an intervention by a therapist helps reveal the illness and remove some of the clutter. The letting go is considered a breakthrough, a professional organizer sometimes helps with logistics, and the crew moves on.

That's not how "The OCD Project" on VH1 works. This new series bears all the hallmarks of obscenely voyeuristic "reality TV" — including a house temporarily shared by eccentric characters caught at their worst — but then it takes a turn. You think it's going to mark a new low in titillating TV, and it ends up being surprisingly (perish the thought) educational.

"The OCD Project" airs in a three-hour prime-time block on Thursdays, with repeats including today at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 10 p.m. An array of symptoms is dealt with one by one, as six patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders endure what the host/therapist David Tolin promises will be "the toughest three weeks of their lives."

Tolin is a board-certified clinical psychologist, founder of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital. He teaches psychiatry at Yale's School of Medicine and has a recurring gig on "Hoarders."

As a cable TV host, he's direct, forceful and telegenic in a tough-love way..." More

Treatment to solving obsessive-compulsive disorder as agonizing as condition on VH1's 'OCD Project'

DAVID HINCKLEY

"The OCD Project," Thursday night at 10 on VH1

The best part of this new VH1 show about treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is that, in contrast to most reality programs, the featured subjects don't look even a little bit happy to be here.

When C-list celebs sign up for rehab shows, or civilian contestants risk humiliation on other reality shows, you often get the idea that they've calculated the pluses and minuses and decided that being on television outweighs any other consideration.

That may also be true here. But it doesn't feel that way. It feels like the six people who are undergoing tough-love OCD treatment on this show agreed to expose themselves in very unflattering ways because they're running low on both options and time.

Kristen, 28, who is phobic about "contamination," says she spends up to six hours a day washing her hands, sometimes until she rubs the skin off.

She works as a banker, but human contact, needless to say, doesn't come easily to someone who uses hand sanitizer every time she has to shake hands. So she lives in a bubble, literal and figurative. While it's a well-sanitized bubble, the 28-year-old also calls it "a lonely world."

Cody, 18, is home-schooled because his life revolves around various rituals. He estimates 60% of his day is rituals. It takes him an hour to turn a computer on or off.

Traci needs two hours to perform the rituals that get her out of bed. She's obsessed with the idea that if she doesn't perform these and dozens of others during the day, her 9-year-old son will die.

So even though her fears are more about herself than her son, he's imprisoned by them. She won't let him out of the house, for instance, because he might breathe "bad air."

While OCD is a casual punch line to much of the world, it's a life-changer to these six people, and not in a good way. The host, Dr. David Tolin, warns them that they won't enjoy his methods of taking their lives back...." More

More on Dr. Tolin, the show and watch the premiere: here

Hoarders leave behind disturbing mess for families to clean up

By Jill Sell

A large shovel leans against a filthy living room wall, the only object left in the inner-ring suburban home that until recently was stuffed from basement to attic with trash, clothes, furniture and debris.

The shovel was a stark reminder of the most effective way to clean the house of a hoarder.

A rich accountant had lived alone in the home for 60 years, adding every day to his nightmarish living conditions. Pallets of yellowed and brittle papers, mildewed books, junk mail, jigsaw puzzles, about 400 stacked empty ice cream cartons, and mice-infested furniture filled the large but unlivable house.

It was, in other words, a classic example of hoarding, the once-hidden disorder getting intense scrutiny lately, thanks in part to two new TV shows highlighting its horrors.

The shows, TLC's "Hoarding: Buried Alive" and A&E's "Hoarders," focus on the plight of those drowning in their own possessions . . . and trash. Both series uncover the frustration of family and friends -- and the hoarders themselves -- trying to wrap their minds around the unsanitary and overwhelming disorder..." More

Animal Planet - Animal Hoarding show seeks participants

HOW MANY ANIMALS ARE TOO MANY?

Some people can’t say no to another animal. They want to adopt or rescue as many as they can. They work hard to be caring pet owners, but sometimes, they get overwhelmed.

Owning too many pets puts a strain on them, their homes, their finances, their families – even their pets.It also puts them in danger of having their animal confiscated, of being fined, or even arrested.

Nobody wants that to happen. Maybe we can help.

Animal Planet is producing a series about people with really large animal families (15+). We want to offer them a chance to tell their story, both about their special relationship with animals and about the problems that having so many pets creates in their life.

Should they and their family decide that help is needed, we can offer free veterinary care, humane adoptions, improved animal shelters, even house cleaning. They decide.

Here’s a chance to get the situation under control – before they’re forced to. If you, or someone you know, has a house full of pets, contact us atrealstories@petfamily.org– or call us toll free at : 1-877-MY8-PETS.

SHOW: TLC Buried Alive - Premiere Mar 14

Hoarding: Buried Alive goes inside the homes of extreme hoarders to explore the psychology behind their compulsion to accumulate and store large quantities of nonessential things.

Each episode will tell the stories of two severe hoarders struggling with behavior that has made every day existence unbearable for both them and their loved ones. With the help of expert therapists and organizers, the hoarders will attempt to unlock the key to their obsessions in the hope of reclaiming their lives...." More

Hoarders Fill Rooms With Trash, Clutter, Worse

By NEAL KARLINSKY and ELOISE HARPER

Lloyd Drum's bedroom is a mess. There's a lot of newspaper. There's a half-buried computer.

Drum's South Los Angeles backyard is just as cluttered. He has a huge collection of bicycles piled up in a shed and in the garage. Also in the garage is a car that hasn't seen the light of day in years. The vehicle lies buried under a huge pile of ... stuff.

Such clutter would drive most people crazy. Drum, 82, insists it doesn't bother him.

"That's not as much of a problem as not being able to find stuff I'm looking for," he told ABC News.

The clutter inside and outside Drum's home goes beyond questions of everyday tidiness.

"I tend to save all of the stuff I get from my church," said Drum. "Not necessarily re-reading it."...." More

Mar 26, 2008: The Tortured Lives of People Who Can't Throw Things Out

Hoarding takes over South Bend man's life

By Tricia Sloma

Sometimes that last part gets lost in the shuffle, and before you know it, your home is a total mess...." More & video.

Part 2:

On Tuesday, we showed you the home of Jim Curlee, which was chosen for a de-cluttering intervention on the TV show "Hoarders." Now, in Part 2, we show you how Jim is doing now that he's gotten help for his hoarding...." More & video

Hoarding: Not just an entertainment sensation

By AMBER KROSEL

Every room on every floor was overflowing with paper bags and boxes full of junk.

Only a very narrow trail allowed visitors to move through the three-story Victorian home up for sale 10 years ago.

It was the worst case of hoarding Dr. Pete Marcelo had seen, and it wasn’t even in his professional role. He was looking to buy a home with his family, but the Realtor was unable to convince the homeowner to clean up.

“The Realtor informed me that she had tried to get the owner to do so prior to listing the property, but the owner didn’t see the situation as a problem,” said Marcelo, a licensed clinical psychologist and social worker in Huntley..." More

"Hoarders" crew digs out local dad

By Molly Snyder Edler

An upcoming episode of A&E TV's "Hoarders" -- a series about people with compulsive hoarding disorders -- will feature a Milwaukee single father of two adopted, special needs kids and the eight local professional organizers who volunteered more than 100 hours to help him get a handle on his home.

Two weeks ago, the crew came to Milwaukee to shoot the episode that will air Monday, Feb. 8 at 9 p.m.

Cedarburg's Richard Taft was one of the professional organizers who volunteered to help unclutter the house. Taft is currently the marketing director for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and will soon serve as the organization's vice president.

Taft rallied eight professional organizers to help, and within two days, the group donated more than 100 hours.

"Over a two-day period, we went through the entire house, creating usable living spaces, installing storage solutions, sorting clothes and getting rid of the items that they did not need," says Taft.

The owner of the home is a single father living in Milwaukee near the airport with two adopted special needs children..." More

A & E Show: Hoarders

Hoarders Premieres Nov 30th on A & E

Season Two line-up:

Augustine

14 years ago Jason was removed from his mother Augustine's home by Child Protective Services because of her hoarding. She was never able to clean up enough to have him return. Now, as an adult living on the other side of the country, he is filled with shame and resentment, but unable to turn his back on her. Her hoarding has become so severe that she has lived without water, gas, heat or appliances for the last four years--bathing only once a week at her sister's house. Complaints from neighbors have instigated a court ordered clean-up and she is now facing fines and the threat of jail time. We follow Jason as he tries one last time to rescue his mother from the filth he escaped from years ago.

Judi and Gail

When rescue workers were called to Judi's home they found her stuck in massive amounts of clutter and were forced to remove her through the kitchen window. The city condemned her home and she was placed in a rehabilitation facility. But time is running out. Medicare will stop paying in two weeks and Judi has nowhere to go. Gail once lived the disciplined life of a ballerina; but now her house is so full of possessions that the floors are sinking, the gas line is bent and the water pipes are broken. Goats have eaten through the siding to the back bedroom and chickens, dogs, and cats can be seen roaming among the piles of clutter in the house. Gail must clean up enough to make repairs before winter.

Chris and Dale

After the death of her newborn son, Chris filled the void by surrounding herself with possessions. Attention Deficit Disorder makes it impossible for her to focus long enough to clean up. She's now at risk of losing custody of her daughters who are still living in the house. Dale is at risk of eviction from his city subsidized housing because his apartment is filled with "found objects" that he hopes to one day turn into works of art. After he repeatedly failed to meet deadlines for cleaning, the court began the process to stop his housing subsidy. He won't be eligible for another three years and has no other place to go.

Hoarders Season 2: Now casting

Hoarders on A&E is casting its second season of the groundbreaking documentary television series that sheds much needed light on this complicated and underreported condition. Each hour long episode will follow two individuals who suffer from this mental illness thru a crisis situation that is directly caused by their hoarding.

We will provide free services for the hoarder, such as a mental health support, professional organizers, and professional cleanup and/or junk removal services. Each case will be considered on an individual basis, and services will be tailored to fit individual needs. Our professionals like Dr. Tolin all have experience treating this population and are appropriately trained and credentialed.

We are looking for individuals willing to spend 3-5 days sharing their stories on camera.

We understand that compulsive hoarding is an extremely emotional and difficult disorder, and it is our hope that by sharing the personal stories of our guests it will help others realize they are not alone. We will also share the right way for families and friends to approach a hoarder to, hopefully, avoid dangerous living environments.

What we are looking for:

1. Individuals willing to tell their story.

2. Individuals motivated to change by a ticking clock, or crisis caused by hoarding that needs to be addressed immediately.

3. We need to show how the hoarding has impacted friends and/or loved ones.

These individuals will need to appear on camera and share their side of the story.

Whatever your crisis, whatever your story, we are interested in listening.

If you or someone you know is a compulsive hoarder please go to our website to learn more information and to apply:http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/

A Glimpse Inside “Obsessed”: An Interview with John Tsilimparis

By THERESE J. BORCHARD

I’m not one to stay up and watch TV. For one, I have to practice good sleep hygiene so I can preach that message to you guys. But A&E’s documentary series, “Obsessed” piqued my interest because it exposes viewers to the lives of every day folks battling OCD,panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, hoarding, and a healthy variety of phobias. The unscripted series educates the public on how one measly obsession can totally mess up a life if the biochemistry isn’t controlled (of course, I already know that). So I wanted to interview the show’s therapist, John Tsilimparis, about the series and about the experience of being watched by millions as he conducted therapy..." More

Updated: New show on Animal Hoarders

"...I’m a producer with England’s ITV Studios, and we are currently seeking participants for a new documentary-style series for Animal Planet. The show will examine the disorder of animal hoarding and profile the people and families affected by it. If you, a relative, friend, neighbor or loved one are dealing with a compulsive animal hoarding situation and are willing to share your story on camera, we would like to hear from you.

We do not want to showcase hoarders who are being intentionally abusive, but pet owners who know they need help. Potential storylines could include several scenarios, such as:

1) A compulsive animal hoarder who is now faced with an ultimatum (eviction, divorce, or having to give up some or all of their animals) because of their need to hoard animals.

2) Individuals who hoard animals as companions – just as some people hoard belongings – but who have just taken on more than they can financially or emotionally handle. The pet owners may not believe they have a problem or consider themselves a hoarder, but their family is concerned the animals are becoming a burden.

3) A person who may be a compulsive hoarder and, in addition, owns several animals, which have become their emotional lifeline as they have isolated themselves from friends and family.

4) A person who has what their family members and friends consider a unique or possibly eccentric relationship with their pet(s), which they believe could be a detriment to their loved one’s well-being.

Understandably, this can be a difficult topic for those afflicted with compulsive animal hoarding. Our hope is that by sharing the stories of willing participants, others suffering in silence will realize they are not alone. If you would like to find out more about the show, please contact our producers via email at animalshowcasting@yahoo.com. Please write us a brief description of your situation and include a phone number where you can be reached so we can speak in confidence. The show is currently in the early stages of production, so the exact content of the show is subject to change..."

From Animal Intervention:

"...I’m a producer with England’s ITV Studios, and we are currently seeking participants for a new documentary-style series for Animal Planet. The show will examine the disorder of animal hoarding and profile the people and families affected by it. If you, a relative, friend, neighbor or loved one are dealing with a compulsive animal hoarding situation and are willing to share your story on camera, we would like to hear from you.

We do not want to showcase hoarders who are being intentionally abusive, but pet owners who know they need help. Potential storylines could include several scenarios, including:

A compulsive animal hoarder who is now faced with an ultimatum (eviction, divorce, or having to give up some or all of their animals) because of their need to hoard animals.

Individuals who hoard animals as companions – just as some people hoard belongings – but who have just taken on more than they can financially or emotionally handle. The pet owners may not believe they have a problem or consider themselves a hoarder, but their family is concerned the animals are becoming a burden.

A person who may be a compulsive hoarder and, in addition, owns several animals, which have become their emotional lifeline as they have isolated themselves from friends and family.

A person who has what their family members and friends consider a unique or possibly eccentric relationship with their pet(s), which they believe could be a detriment to their loved one’s well-being.

Understandably, this can be a difficult topic for those afflicted with compulsive animal hoarding. Our hope is that by sharing the stories of willing participants, others suffering in silence will realize they are not alone. If you would like to find out more about the show, please contact our producers via email at HYPERLINK "mailto:animalshowcasting@yahoo.com" animalshowcasting@yahoo.com. Please write us a brief description of your situation and include a phone number where you can be reached so we can speak in confidence. ..."

Hoarders on A&E - Dona Ana County featured

Dona Ana County has had several cases of hoarding and animal abuse cases in the past.

The large number of high profile cases that has them in to the national spotlight.
This week the animal control team was featured on the program "Hoarder's" on A & E.
But the case featured on the show is just one of many they've handled since stepping up enforcement..." Video