Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
One of the saddest sights in animal welfare is to see an animal hoarder.
My organization kept receiving complaints about the terrible smell coming from a flat in Vasant Kunj. I sent a girl to meet the owner. He was a middle-aged man who lived alone and he claimed that he rescued sick animals from the streets. We cautioned him to keep his flat clean and to take care of the dogs properly. A year later the complaints had intensified. The man had disappeared and, with the help of the police, we broke into his flat. There were over 30 dogs. The flat was covered in faeces and urine. The windows were closed but the fans were on in the middle of winter. There were litters of new born puppies. All the animals were starving and there was no water. One animal had chewed its paws off. There were two dead bodies in cupboards. It was the flat of a crazed human being. The neighbours told us that this man did not even sleep in the flat any more. He slept in his car. He had never taken the dogs out. He simply picked up animals at random and brought them to his flat to die.
This man is a scientist working in a laboratory who had been dismissed two years ago and since then his behaviour had become increasingly more erratic. From a person who simply used to feed street animals he had started hoarding them. I took all these poor animals to my hospital and we are still trying to find them homes. We did not find the man then, but one week later we received a call that he had started picking up dogs again and taking them to his flat. The team and police rushed to his flat to find two more dogs. He was sitting there with a long beard with bits of food in it, an awful smell coming from him. I called his father from Kerala to take him away.
In another case a girl who lived in a paying guest accommodation of one room and a bathroom filled up the place with small cages of starved dogs and cats. Over 20 of them. The girl had worked for a while in my hospital. She was a sensible, capable, passionate young lady. One day she simply quit and disappeared. It turned out that her engagement had broken, she had left her home, rented this accommodation and then started collecting animals. I am surprised her landlady said nothing – it was the neighbours who complained. We picked up the animals but she went to the police and demanded them back, and ultimately I had to step in. I promised her that she could have her animals back if she went in for treatment.
In another case I received a call from a very frightened woman in Mumbai who said that the neighbours in her apartment block were threatening to kill her and had gone to the police saying that she had murdered someone in her flat as the smell was so horrible. She said that she had a few cats but she was very particular about cleanliness and this was simply a case of people being vicious as she lived alone. I believed her as I have found that in every case where a woman lives alone with animals, the worst kind of sadism is generated in people who live nearby. We have had dozens of such people put into jail who simply want to be mean to a woman and use animals as an excuse. However, in this case the woman turned out to have 32 cats in three rooms, none sterilized and all breeding all the time. This is unacceptable. Our animal groups stepped in to help her and I intervened with the police to do nothing but the incident was not happy.
Animal hoarders are not animal welfare people. The pathological accumulation of animals was first described in 1981 and animal hoarding was formally defined in public health literature in 1999 using the following criteria:
“Having more than the typical number of companion animals. Failing to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in illness and death from starvation, spread of infectious disease, and untreated injury or medical condition. Persistence, despite this failure, in accumulating and controlling animals.”
Compulsive Hoarding can be characterized as a symptom of mental disorder rather than deliberate cruelty towards animals. It often results from a variety of traumatic experiences which result in dysfunctional compulsive and addictive behaviour.
Hoarders are deeply attached to their pets and cannot comprehend that they are harming them by failing to provide them with proper care.
Many characteristics of animal hoarding are similar to those exhibited by hoarders of inanimate objects – accumulation of large quantity of objects and/or trash that render living spaces non-functional, refusal to discard, living in clutter and squalor, denial of the conditions, reluctance to seek or accept help, alienation from family and friends, etc. The stereotype of an animal hoarder is that of a single, older person, living alone and socioeconomically disadvantaged. However, it is important to recognize that hoarding knows no age, gender, or socioeconomic boundaries. It has been observed in men and women, young and old, married as well as never married or widowed, and in people with professional or white collar jobs. It is not uncommon for hoarders to be secretive, living essentially a “double life” at work vs. at home
Animal hoarders’ impaired judgment and actions results in a great deal of animal suffering. Although hoarding may start out as a seemingly benevolent mission to save animals, eventually the needs of the animals become lost to the person’s needs for control. The resulting compulsive caregiving is pursued to fulfil unmet human needs, while the real needs of the animals are ignored or disregarded.
Is animal hoarding a crime? The keeping of animals is not a crime but when that results in suffering for the animals, it is. Examples include: animals with serious medical problems that are not receiving adequate veterinary care; animals without adequate food or water; animals exposed to temperature extremes without adequate shelter or bedding; and animals held in enclosures that are filthy. Gary Patronek, of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University, defines hoarding as “pathological human behaviour that involves a compulsive need to obtain and control animals, coupled with a failure to recognize their suffering.” It is linked to obsessive compulsive disorder, addiction, and dementia. Hoarders display symptoms of delusional disorder. They lack insight into the extent of deterioration in their habitations and on the health of their animals, refusing to acknowledge that anything is wrong. Furthermore, hoarders may believe they have “a special ability to communicate and/or empathize with animals”, rejecting any offers of assistance. Another reason for animal hoarding is attachment disorder which is characterized by an inability to form “close relationships with other humans in adulthood”. Sufferers may turn to animals for companionship. Hoarders have issues with authority figures and accepting intervention. They believe they are the only ones who can adequately care for animals and find it hard to refuse any new animals.
The number of animals involved is not a factor in identifying hoarding. The issue is the owner’s inability to provide care for the animals and his/her refusal to acknowledge that both the animals and the household are deteriorating. For instance, in one case, 11 cats were seized from a room. It smelt so bad that no one could breathe, even the stove and sink were filled with feline waste. Yet, I know someone with 59 rescued dogs in his farmhouse, properly fed, spayed, vaccinated, and groomed.
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