Researchers try to understand animal 'hoarders'

Published: Monday, June 21, 1999

BOSTON {AP} They're dismissed as wacky animal-loving eccentrics, those people discovered with dozens, even hundreds, of pets living under one roof.

Animal experts have a name for them hoarders. But their behavior may not always be simply idiosyncratic, researchers say. It could signal mental illness.

The cases crop up with alarming frequency, and make for splashy headlines. A team of Massachusetts veterinarians and psychologists is trying now to figure out why love for pets sometimes turns into animal obsession.

"Historically, their behavior was excused. People would say, 'They just love animals, why not leave them alone?"' said Gary Patronek, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton.

Recently, that attitude has been shifting as closer attention is paid to the deplorable state in which such animals often live.

Hoarded pets are typically worm-ridden, underfed, mangy and stressed out. They live and frequently die in squalor.

Hoarders can be prosecuted under animal cruelty laws. But convictions are more likely to lead to small fines than prison time. Many hoarders start all over again after they are caught.

There is no way to track exactly how many occur, although Patronek estimates at least 2,000 are discovered annually.

This year he set up a national surveillance effort to try to pinpoint the problem and also hopes to interview the hoarders to determine their motives.

In research published in January, Patronek studied 54 such cases from around the country.

The median number of animals kept was 39, but some hoarded as many as 100.

The keepers often viewed themselves as saviors on a rescue mission. Of the cases studied, 76 percent involved women, and 46 percent were over age 69. Abut half lived alone.

In 80 percent of the cases, animals were found dead, malnourished or injured.

Cats tend to be hoarded most often, since they are relatively small, quiet and easy to hide. But even farm animals have been kept.

With the high recidivism rate, Patronek said, prosecution will do little to curb the behavior. With help from behavioral psychologists and sociologists at Smith College, Boston University and Northeastern University, Patronek is examining whether animal hoarders would be better helped by mental health experts.

"People are forced to prosecute these folks because there aren't alternatives," he said.

