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You are here: Home / Archives for animal abuse

The Hazards of Hoarding

May 11, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Hoarding is a psychological condition that results in a person accumulating an enormous amount of trash and things of little-to-no value, or worse, more animals than can be properly cared for. Hoarding of any kind can pose several dangers to the occupant and neighbors, and certainly to animals if they are involved. These hazards can be deadly, and all the more reason people with hoarding disorder should have professional help to restore them to healthy living conditions. If children and animals are in the home, exposed to these perilous dangers, hoarding is also a crime. Hoarders Hallway Before

Structural Integrity Loss

The weight of debris and hoarded items is often more than the floors are able to withhold. The sheer volume of debris in a room can push up against walls, not only damaging their integrity, but also putting the ceiling and roof at risk of collapse. Likewise, the collapse of walls, floors or ceilings can cause gas lines and water pipes to break, resulting in fire and flood damage.

Fire

Large amounts of paper, such as newspapers, books, boxes, and discarded food wrappers and packaging, or improperly stored combustibles can pose extreme fire dangers. If space heaters are used, close proximity to any debris can also cause fire.

Collapse of Debris

Often, hoarders will create precarious paths between large piles of debris, or will crawl over mountains of trash to get around in the house. If these trash piles collapse, they could trap the hoarder underneath, burying the person alive. This could result in death from suffocation or inability to notify anyone they need help.

Decay/Decomposition

As is often the case, hoarders not only collect relatively useless items, but they tend to not dispose of much of anything. The decay of spoiled food stuffs and waste can lead to terrible odors and airborne pathogens that can be harmful or even deadly. In a very unusual case in San Francisco, the mummified body of a 90 year old woman was found in an extreme hoarding case. Officials believe she died 5 years previously.

Harmful Biohazards

In almost all hoarding scenes, biohazards are present. Biohazards can be toxic or infectious, even deadly, and can lead to any range of illnesses and dangers to the resident or neighbors. Common biohazardous materials include spoiled food, feces and urine, blood, bodily fluids, pet waste and dead animals.

Infestations

The decay and decomposition of organic materials and biohazards, undoubtedly attract pests. Rodents will leave waste and very often get trapped and die within a hoarding residence. This further increases the potential harm to the hoarder, as well as neighbors. This is why hoarding goes beyond an individual and becomes a community problem.

Personal Hygiene and Nutritional Issues

A hoarding situation can become so extreme that debris blocks access to a kitchen and bathrooms. When the kitchen is blocked or is overwhelmed by harmful waste, proper food preparation becomes impossible. And when bathrooms become blocked, makeshift alternatives are used, with an absence of hygiene. In the extreme hoarding case in San Francisco, police found over 300 bottles of urine on the premises.

If a loved one or a neighbor is a hoarder and living in unsafe conditions, we can help with the cleanup and refer you to other helpful resources. If animals or children are at risk, we can also put you in touch with law enforcement agencies that can assist.

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Filed Under: Call for Answers, Hoarding Tagged With: animal abuse, animal hoarding, animal hoarding cleanup, biohazard cleanup, child abuse, hoarding cleanup

The Devastation of Animal Hoarding

April 23, 2015 By Alan Cohen

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Animal hoarding is a psychological disorder resulting in the pathological accumulation of animals, and it is particularly disturbing, compared to hoarding of inanimate objects, because innocent animals become suffering, long-term, and often fatal victims of neglect. Worse, animal hoarders rarely recognize the harm and cruelty being inflicted on the animals they have collected. Because it is defined as animal abuse, animal hoarding is also a crime.

Animal hoarding is defined by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, with 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.
  • Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling.
  • Persistence, despite this failure, in accumulating and controlling animals.

The psychological disorder can affect anyone, with any economic, professional, or cultural background, and is now believed to be an accumulation of several varying types of mental, physical and environmental factors.

animal hoarding traits and deficits

Animal hoarding is frequently noticeable by neighbors and community members. Here are some resources where you can report suspected cases of animal neglect, cruelty and hoarding:

Kern County

Kern County Animal Services: (661) 868-7100

Los Angeles County

Animal Cruelty Task Force: (213) 486-0450

Orange County

Animal Care Services at (714) 935-6848

Riverside County

Riverside County Animal Services: (951) 358-7387

San Bernardino County

San Bernardino Animal Cruelty Task Force: 1-800-78-CRIME

San Luis Obispo County

SLO County Animal Services: (805)781-4407

Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara Humane Society:(805) 964-4777, ext. 18

Ventura County

Humane Society of Ventura County: 805-646-6505

 

Call Bio SoCal for help.

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Filed Under: Here to Help, Hoarding Tagged With: animal abuse, animal cruelty, animal hoarding, ASPCA, hoarding, Humane Society, OCD, Tufte University

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