Q1:
 Why is hoarding a better term than "collecting"?

A1:
 Collecting describes a benign hobby, not a pathological situation. The characteristics of " animal hoarding" are much more consistent with what is described in the medical and psychiatric literature about other forms of hoarding than collecting.

Q2:
 What are the demographics of animal hoarding?

A2:
 The stereotype of an animal hoarder is that of a single, older woman, living alone and socioeconomically disadvantaged. Like any stereotype, there is some support in existing data. However, it is important to recognize that hoarding knows no age, gender, or socioeconomic boundaries. It has been observed in men and women, young and old, married as well as never married or widowed, and in people with professional or white collar jobs. There have even been hoarders among human health professionals and veterinarians and veterinary technicians who manage to live a double life, deceiving friends and co-workers about the true conditions at home
Q3:
 What types of animals are hoarded?

A3:
 Almost every conceivable type of animal can be a victim of hoarding. Reports have documented a wide range of companion animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, birds, and guinea pigs, to farm animals (horses, sheep, goats, chickens, cattle), to exotic and sometimes dangerous wildlife.

Domestic species are the largest group of animals represented in hoarding cases, most likely because of availability and relative ease of care. Cats are very common and contribute to the stereotype. They are easily available in any community and easier to conceal than dogs. This ease of availability and concealment could explain the high frequency of cat hoarding compared to some other species.

It is not uncommmon for multiple species to be present, although in most situations, hoarders tend to concentrate on one species. Our research has not yet examined what psychological factors lead to individual species preferences in hoarding situations, or answered the question as to whether or not there are any differences among the people who hoard different species.

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Q4:
 Are you studying hoarding by puppy mill-type operations?

A4:

H.A.R.C. is interested in the psychological underpinnings of hoarding behavior characterized by a lack of recognition of the effects of hoarding on the health and welfare of the animals as well as people. It is certainly possible for a substandard commercial breeding operation that raises animals in deplorable conditions for profit to have conditions that equal the worst seen in any other hoarding situation. Many of these situations are uncovered by humane investigators and prosecuted every year. <br><br>

What distinguishes these cases is that the perpetrator seems to be well aware of the conditions, and has deliberately chosen to neglect the animals. There have even been a few high profile charity scams designed to deceive the public into donating for a legitimate animal rescue operation when all or most of the money is skimmed off for other purposes. We believe that these are clearcut cases of animal cruelty, uncomplicated by the poorly understood psychological factors that seem to characterize much hoarding behavior. At this time, our goal is to better understand those cases where deliberate exploitation for profit does not seem to be part of the motive.
Q5:
 What is the largest number of animals in a single case?

A5:

Numbers don't mean a lot unless you consider species. For example, it would not be hard to have 500 rats in home. In terms of larger species of animals, we are aware of several cases which involved over 1000 dogs, cats and miscellaneous other species.
Q6:
 How common is animal hoarding?

A6:
 It is likely that up to a quarter million animals - 250,000 /year - are victims.
The frequency of AH is difficult to estimate, but has been calculated using several different approaches. In one study, using self-reported data from animal shelters, the frequency was estimated based on extrapolating to the animal intakes of the shelters per year and the human population served. This resulted in an estimated incidence of roughly 700 - 2000 cases annually across the US, depending on whether median or mean values were used in the calculation [Patronek, 1999]. The above was a very rough calculation, given the difficulty in obtaining accurate data about reported cases, and probably an underestimate. Passive surveillance of newspaper reports by the author over the past 3 - 4 years have yielded on average at least 3 cases a day, which suggests that the previous figure would be substantially higher with complete reporting.

In another survey, health officers in Massachusetts were queried about reported cases of all types of hoarding over a five year period; the five-year prevalence rate was estimated as 5.3 cases per 100,000 population per year [Frost, Steketee & Williams, 2000]. This study had advantages over the shelter-based study because health departments are more likely to receive and record information in a retrievable fashion than animal shelters. Animals were hoarded in roughly a third of these cases, which suggest an incidence of about 1.75 cases of animal hoarding per 100,000 population per year. The authors also indicated that methodological problems likely resulted in an under-reporting during the first three years of the study, suggesting this was a minimum estimate. By comparison, the only other study which examined frequency was conducted in New York City nearly 25 years ago, and suggested an incidence of 0.40 cases per 100,000 [Worth & Beck, 1981]. The current Massachusetts estimate (1.75 cases /100,000), if extrapolated to the entire US population of about 291 million people [US Census Bureau, 2003], would indicate a minimum of 5092 reported animal hoarding cases per year. To the extent that MA data are representative of the entire US, and using a median of either 39 or 47 animals per case [Patronek, 1999; HARC, 2002], it would not be unreasonable to suggest that up to a quarter million animals are subjected to this form of abuse each year.

References

    Frost, R.O., Steketee, G., & Williams, L. (2000) Health and Social Care in the Community 8,229-234.
    Patronek, G.J. (1999) Hoarding of animals: an under-recognized public health problem in a difficult-to-study population. Public Health Reports 114,81-87.
    Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC). (2002) Health implications of animal hoarding. Health& Social Work 27,125-11136.