Animal Hoarding? More than you can handle?

   So this morning while checking the news and what's new on some of the sites I follow or network on, I came across this forum post on another social network site I belong to for animal owners in our area.

Apparently there is a filming company here or wishing to find people here who are possible animal hoarders or may have too many pets.  This was her post:

Some brand them as “animal hoarders.” We want to get to know them as people. We want to experience the special relation they have with their pets and understand why they do what they do. We also recognize that trying to care for too many animals can sometimes be overwhelming. There can be financial burdens, health issues, family conflicts, even the run-ins with authorities. We want to see how animal lovers - and their families - deal with these challenges.

We also want to offer help. We have the resources to provide free veterinary care, therapy, spaying and neutering, even food if required. We will not force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. We will not report anyone to any authorities. If help is needed, we want to find solutions that work for everybody.

Our goal as TV producers is to tell true stories about people who are often misunderstood – and if we can, to address issues that are too often ignored. To learn more, contact us at realstories@petfamily.org – or call us at our toll free number: 1-877-MY8-PETS.

There are two sites associated with this post or person: Petfamily.org  and The Animal Hoarding Project Both are associated with the same group who produce Intervention. However, the woman assure one poster that this was to be a different situation than Intervention. They wish to genuinely help the people who agree to be filmed.

I and a couple others see potential problems here. Animal Hoarding is a crime in NM, it is considered neglect and abuse. While it is recognized as a probable illness in the person doing the hoarding, it doesn't make it any less of a crime. We wonder if perhaps producing this show could lead to law enforcement removing the animals and charging the person etc.  This could open a whole can of worms unless they can guarantee anonymity of the people being filmed.

In my humble opinion,  I do think perhaps more attention should be drawn to this matter, I am not entirely sure exposing people in your community to Reality TV is the way to go about it.  Not everyone who has an excess of pets are hoarders. Some really do provide the needed veterinary care and cleanliness for the animals in their care.  So perhaps you know someone who might fall under the hoarder status, or are in denial about the abundance of pets in their home, and they often say things like, "If I don't care for them, they'll end up at the shelter and be euthanized."  Hoarding is a mental disorder, and it does get worse over time.

Pet Abuse.Com gives this definition on Hoarding (aka Collecting):

"Animal hoarding, sometimes referred to as "collecting", continues to struggle with public misconceptions. Members of the community and even law enforcement often view hoarders to be "someone who meant well but the situation got out of hand," conjuring images of the sweet cat lady down the street.

While their intentions may indeed have been good, the reality of hoarding is far from sweet, and is often quite horrific. Hoarders often have hundreds of animals in their home, living in filth and without veterinary care. It is not uncommon to discover several hundred animals in various states of neglect at one location. It is also very common to find vast collections of other junk and garbage on the premises, as well as many layers of feces throughout the home.

In the majority of hoarding cases, the hoarder firmly believes not only that they have done nothing wrong, but that the animals cannot survive without their "care". In many instances, hoarders will even be reluctant to relinquish the decomposing corpses of animals that died. Dead animals are frequently found in the freezer or refrigerator, or even laying around the house, embedded in the carpeting, etc. At times, dead animals have been left in the home so long that they have become mummified.

Hoarders may feel that they "love" animals, but they can be blind to the fact that they are not caring for them responsibly even in the face of starvation and death. Hoarders are usually unable to bear the thought of euthanasia, but vast numbers of animals are "saved" only to languish in a squalid, crowded environment where they suffer from