Intervention is possible but challenging, requiring tact and patience


Tips for families and friends

In some hoarding situations, family members and friends have tried vainly for years to intervene, having little success in moving the hoarder to a more functional home and lifestyle which can accomodate social relationships. In the most extreme cases, marriages fail, children lose contact with parents, and siblings become estranged.    Read more....


Veterinarians can help - or hinder - a hoarding case

Because of their preoccupation with animals, at some point hoarders are likely to have sought veterinary care. This may be for needed services, but also because veterinary hospitals, like shelters or other animal-related groups, will knowingly or unknowingly indulge their preoccupation with animals.   Read more....


Housing codes can be a valuable tool

Although our society provides people considerable latitude in how they choose to live, most municipalities have a variety of housing, sanitation, zoning, electrical, plumbing, and safety codes which must be followed to keep communities safe and maintain property values.   Read more....


Guardianship issues

Hoarders vary widely in their ability to function in society and manage their own affairs. Some can lead "double lives" as respected professionals in the community, whereas others may be quite marginalized, with poor self-care and evidence of inability to manage money, property, and other aspects of daily life. In cases studied by HARC, up to 25% of hoarders were known to have been placed in some type of supervised care.    Read more...


The true cost of hoarding

The true costs of a hoarding case to communities is not well appreciated. Partly, this is because hoarding cases have typically been dealt with on a piecemeal basis, with each agency carving out its own area of responsibility, with no one seeing the "big picture" for a final tally. ALso, often it is animal control or animal shelters who lead the investigation and interventions, and these agencies have typically operated on the periphery of municipal government. When the true cost is calculated, the numbers can be astounding, and make a good case for the merits of more effective prevention.    Read more...


The benefits of a coordinated interdisciplinary approach

One of the most effective ways of dealing with hoarding situations is to establish an interdisciplinary task force, involving representatives of all stakeholders in the community. Numerous communities around the US have established hoarding task forces encompassing human health and social services, public health, zoning, code enforcement, and animal protection groups to bring a coordinated, multi-pronged effort to these cases.    Read more...




Tools for therapists
Although more and more courts are ordering psychological assessment of animal hoarders, either pre-trial or pre-sentencing, and some are requiring counseling as a condition of their sentence or probation, many therapists are not sure how to approach these cases.    Read more...