A description of 17 animal hoarding case files from animal control and a humane society

Animal Hoarding: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Animal hoarding is a special manifestation of Hoarding Disorder, characterized by the accumulation of animals and failure to provide them with minimal care. The main objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the characteristics of animal hoarding with a focus on the profile of affected individuals and accumulation behavior features.

METHODS

A systematic search of the literature using the electronic databases MEDLINE, SCOPUS and LILACS was conducted until October 2022. We included case series (n ≥ 10) and cross-sectional studies assessing animal hoarding.

RESULTS

374 studies were initially retrieved. Most studies were classified as poor quality and significant risk of bias. 538 individuals with animal hoarding were evaluated. These individuals were predominantly middle-aged, unmarried females who lived alone in urban areas. Most residences presented unsanitary conditions. Recidivism rates varied from 13-41%. Cats and dogs were the main hoarded species, mostly acquired through unplanned breeding and found with lack of hygiene; diseases; injuries; and behavioral problems. Animal carcasses were found in up to 60% of the properties.

CONCLUSION

Animal hoarding is a complex condition that requires urgent attention. More research is necessary to develop effective strategies that can save community resources, improve animal and human welfare, and prevent recidivism.

Animal hoarding cases in England: Implications for public health services

Hoarding disorder is characterized by an accumulation of possessions due to excessive acquisition of or difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of their actual value and is estimated to affect 2-6% of the population. Animal hoarding, a distinct subset of hoarding disorder, has a significant public health impact on the humans involved, as well as animal welfare. Individuals exhibit self-neglect, apathy, social withdrawal and object hoarding; living within squalid, deteriorated, structurally unsafe and uninhabitable premises, alongside neglected animals. Cases are complex, costly and impact on a range of responding service providers. Effective case management is poorly understood and researched, with published literature in England particularly sparse. Improving understanding of the characteristics of these cases is the first step in informed case management. This research is the first exploration of the characteristics of animal hoarders in England and the areas where cases were located. Information about prosecutions involving large numbers of animals that were reported in the media was systematically obtained. This identified 66 cases between January 2015 and December 2020. Geospatial analysis exploring characteristics of locations where animal hoarding cases are also reported. Findings were broadly consistent with the international literature in that females (64%), those living alone (71%) and those with a mean age of 49 were well represented. Cats (61.5%) and dogs (60%) were the most commonly hoarded species. There was a mean of 44 animals per case and dead or animals requiring euthanasia found in 53% of cases. Key characteristics of the areas where cases were found highlight urban, densely populated, and high levels of deprivation being the most represented. Evidence of recidivism was evident in 39% of cases, suggesting that prosecution is not an effective rehabilitator. Animal hoarding raises serious implications for Public Health Services, and the lack of current effective case management strategies are discussed.

Noah Syndrome: A Review Regarding Animal Hoarding with Squalor

The main objective of this preliminary review was to identify studies that investigated extreme forms of animal hoarding in an effort to define the concept of Noah syndrome, recently proposed as the animal variant of Diogenes syndrome. From the 52 scientific articles identified in our search, we included and analyzed 23 manuscripts. The main findings show that persons hoarding animals in squalor tend to be of advanced age and socially isolated, lacking perception of the consequences of their behavior on themselves, their families, and their animals. Neurological and psychiatric conditions, such as dementia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), psychoses, and drug addiction were some of the most common underlying causes. We discuss psychopathological mechanisms, such as ageism and attachment disorders. Due to the limited number of manuscripts on this topic, more research is needed to develop effective intervention strategies, which should include not only psychiatric and neurologic care, but also veterinary care and familiarity with public health policies.

Hoarding and Animal Hoarding: Psychodynamic and Transitional Aspects

Hoarding is a disorder that has only recently begun to be understood by researchers and clinicians. This disorder has been examined from a biopsychosocial perspective and has features that overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as some unique characteristics. Hoarding disorder is widespread and maybe related to the evolution of collecting and storing resources among humans and other animals. While there have been a number of non-analytic theories related to hoarding and its treatment, psychoanalytic thinkers have rarely described the disorder or explored its underlying psychodynamics. Beginning with Freud, it is possible to understand hoarding in relationship to the vicissitudes of the anal stage of development. However, loss of a loved object, especially loss of the mother, can play an important role in the development of hoarding behavior in adults. The hoarding of inanimate items, examined from a developmental object-relations perspective, appears to involve transitional phenomena. Animal hoarding also involves transitional phenomena, but animals, which can serve as animated transitional objects, also have a repetition compulsion function. These psychodynamic characteristics are relevant for establishing a working transference with the analyst or therapist, in order to promote positive therapeutic outcomes.

Psychopathological Comorbid Symptoms in Animal Hoarding Disorder

The main goal of this research is to describe the psychopathological symptoms comorbid to animal hoarding disorder. This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of a 33 individuals sample diagnosed with animal hoarding disorder. For data collection, a Sociodemographic Data questionnaire and a Semi-Structured Clinical Interview were used, based on the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. The sample consisted of 24 women (72.7%) and 9 men (27.30%), with a prevalence of 64% of the elderly. The mean number of self-reported animals per residence was 41.12 (DP = 24.41), totaling 1357 animals: 915 (68%) dogs, 382 (28%) cats, and 50 (4%) ducks. The results indicated animal hoarding disorder the comorbid psychopathological symptoms of depression (36%), anxiety (36%), memory deficits (27%), mania (21%) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (18%). The analyses revealed a higher occurrence of these symptoms among participants who had hoarded animals for over 20 years.

Mental health of animal hoarders: a study of consecutive cases in New South Wales

Objective The aim of this study was to review animal hoarding cases referred to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in New South Wales (NSW) to examine mental health factors that influence the development of animal hoarding and to consider strategies for dealing with such cases. Methods Data were gathered by RSPCA inspectors regarding consecutive cases referred to the agency over 2 years. Result Details were provided about animals and 50 identified hoarders (11 male, 39 female; mean age 57 years) on 48 properties. The mean number of animals per case was 53 (range 6-300). Fifteen participants (30%) were known to have had involvement with mental health or social services. Mental health factors appeared to contribute to animal hoarding in well over 50% of cases. Severe and moderate squalor were observed in 52% and 21% of dwellings assessed respectively, many with accumulated rubbish. Conclusions Animal hoarding is largely attributable to psychological and psychiatric problems. It is recommended that clinical services work alongside animal welfare inspectorates, assessing (and, where appropriate, treating) such problems. What is known about the topic? Animal hoarding is believed to be partly attributable to the hoarders having psychiatric or psychological problems, but relevant mental health assessment of hoarders is not usually arranged. Recidivism after removal of animals is nearly 100%. What does this paper add? The study confirms that animal hoarders commonly have mental health issues. However, RSPCA inspectors are not expected to screen for such issues or refer cases to mental health clinicians. What are the implications for practitioners? There is good reason to develop clinical services to help animal hoarders deal with their psychological or psychiatric problems.

Cognitive performance of individuals with animal hoarding

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to characterize the cognitive performance of individuals with animal hoarding.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study, in which 33 individuals between the ages of 29 to 84 (M = 61.39; SD = 12.69) with animal hoarding have been assessed. The participants completed a neurocognitive battery including measures of general cognitive functioning, visual memory and organization, verbal fluency, and verbal reasoning.

RESULTS

Data suggest that individuals with animal hoarding have high rates of cognitive deficits related to visual memory and verbal reasoning.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the performance tests used, we can suggest the existence of cognitive difficulties related especially to the executive functions of individuals with animal hoarding in this sample.

A novel approach to welfare interventions in problem multi-cat households

BACKGROUND

Thousands of injured, stray and relinquished cats are received at the RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital each year. A significant and challenging proportion of these cats are confiscated from multicat households by RSPCA Inspectors, due to the owners' inability to care for them. These households share many characteristics of animal hoarding, including poor owner compliance with suggested welfare improvements and recidivism. The relatively poor adoption potential of animals from such households are a perennial problem for the charity. The aim of this study was to determine if offering female cat neutering assistance to multi-cat owners significantly improved colony welfare.

RESULTS

Ten multicat households with a history of public complaint to the RSPCA were recruited. An RSPCA veterinary surgeon (VS) initially assessed the overall welfare of each household's cat population, individual cat welfare and the living environment. All entire female cats aged over 8 weeks were neutered and basic animal care education provided. Follow up visits were completed two and 12 months later to reassess welfare parameters and population numbers. The total number of cats was 176 across ten households (range 7-33, median 16). All owners consented to having all entire female cats spayed. At the first visit, mean individual cat welfare scores ranged from 5.4-8.7/ 16 across the 10 households, where 16 represented best possible welfare. Overall household mean welfare scores were significantly improved at both the 2 month and 12 month revisits (p = 0.011 and p = 0.01 respectively) when compared to the initial visits. By the end of the study period, three out of the ten households had voluntarily relinquished all of their cats, and overall there was a 40% reduction in the number of cats.

CONCLUSIONS

Animal hoarding has previously been an intractable welfare concern with little evidence informing intervention techniques. These results show that positive veterinary engagement on site, focused on preventative care and population control, can yield significant improvement in welfare scoring systems in relatively short timescales. Promptly collecting and neutering all female cats at a site, combined with advice and support, show promise in improving welfare.