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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