Welcome...
To the home page of HARC, the Hoarding of Animals Research
Consortium, a group of researchers who collaborated from 1997-2006. We have assembled the resources on this
site to increase awareness about a complex disorder
which has until recently not received serious attention
by medical, mental health, and public health professionals.
Known to animal protection groups or SPCA's for many
years as "collectors", the depth of the pathology underlying
this behavior is just beginning to be uncovered, and
shows striking similarities to other forms of hoarding
behavior which are better understood.
NEW:
Documentary I
Documentary II
Documentary III
NEW:
O (Oprah) Magazine story June 2009
NEW: A theoretical perspective to inform assessment and treatment strategies for animal hoarders.
Gary J. Patronek & Jane N. Nathanson;Clinical Psychology Review, 2009 (April)
29:274-281
This paper describes some of the proposed psychological underpinnings of animal hoarding, contrasts animal hoarding with object hoarding, and raises concerns therapists may wish to explore when dealing with hoarder clients.
What you will find here
NOTE: The light
brown text, as shown below, indicates active links to
documents, which can be read or downloaded, or links
to other relevant sites.
This site aims to bring together the work of HARC as well
as credible resources from throughout the US to help you
better understand the phenomenon of animal hoarding, its
impact on individuals and communities all across the US
and internationally, and finally, its sentinel role for
elder abuse and neglect, child abuse and neglect, and
adult self-neglect.
In order to read many of
the articles posted on this site, you must have Adobe
ACROBAT reader. This free software can be downloaded
by clicking on the link below:
Download ADOBE ACROBAT READER software
Our goal is to eliminate
stereotypes and increase the baseline level of awareness
of this behavior among those invovled in caring for
animals, among public agencies, and among those involved
in public health and the legal system. It is our hope
that increased awareness will stimulate additional research
and help interested parties come together, so that collaboratively,
they may help those involved in hoarding cases - be
they friends, family members, municipal authorities,
health professionals, or animal protection groups -
achieve a more humane and more lasting intervention
for all involved.
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