As part of a new initiative to cope with the problems associated with animal hoarding, a workshop sponsored by the Central Arizona Animal Cruelty Task Force will be held in Casa Grande to provide a public forum to address the complex mental health and animal welfare issues involved. The workshop is intended to provide an overview of the problem of animal hoarding on a national basis and will include mental health professionals and representatives from animal welfare agencies. The workshop arose following a recent case in a nearby town where 185 animals were forcibly removed from a home and the owners were subsequently charged with neglect.
Defined as having a higher than usual number of pets without the resources to care for them, animal hoarding is a growing problem in many jurisdictions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Animal hoarders begin taking in pets with good intentions, but develop an inability to recognize that their pets are being neglected. Linked to compulsive hoarding disorders such as Diogenes Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, animal hoarding has also been associated with certain forms of dementia and delusional disorder. In addition to problems with neglect and malnutrition, animal hoarding has led to significant health risk for humans including sanitation concerns (including the spread of parasites and dangerous ammonia levels), possible epidemics of animal-borne diseases such as toxoplasmosis, rabies, and bubonic plague, and the potential link between animal hoarding and other forms of abuse (i.e, child and elder abuse).
While most jurisdictions have no clear legal definition of animal hoarding, humane societies and animal welfare agencies across North America and Europe have organized "Hoarding Prevention Teams" to work with hoarders to deal with their pets. Stronger legislation is also being proposed in many jurisdictions to help control animal hoarding.
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