Solution To Animal Hoarding Has Eluded Communities

By DONNA KOEHN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 15, 2007

They repulse us, so we shudder. Sometimes we laugh and shake our heads. But people who share their feces-smeared homes with scores of diseased and aggressive animals often suffer from deep psychological problems, confounding the authorities and putting themselves, their families and their beloved pets at risk.

TAMPA - This time, it was cat urine dripping through the light fixtures into her neighbor's apartment below.

Denise Holmes, already hauled before a judge once for crowding her small Euclid Street apartment with two dozen cats, had been discovered again. Ordered in 2003 to have no more than four cats, she simply moved a couple of miles away and began amassing them anew.

This time, their numbers reached 35 - all of them flea-infested; most of them bony, dehydrated and diseased; their fur matted or missing. Their urine soaked through her carpets, and their feces collected in smelly piles. The stench was overwhelming, a Tampa police officer told a judge in April.

Yet Holmes, 60, wants all of her babies back.

People chuckle at the neighborhood "cat lady," and news videos of sickly pets awaiting euthanasia tug at the heartstrings. But the hoarding of cats, dogs and other animals signals complex and stubborn problems, not only for the animals and their emotionally troubled keepers but for communities without the resources or knowledge to help them.

Without the right kind of intervention, almost 100 percent of those who are caught hoarding animals will do it again.

No one knows how pervasive animal hoarding is. No national database exists, and few cities or counties track the cases. Estimates based on the number of incidents reported in the media suggest 250,000 animals are affected in the United States, but experts say the numbers are far greater.

It's hard to count hoarders because they typically are reclusive and socially anxious, preferring animal company to that of humans. They try to hide the fact that their homes resemble animal pens. They steadfastly deny that they or their pets are hurting, and they refuse offers of help from well-meaning relatives.

When appliances break, they stay broken. If hoarders fail to pay utility bills, they do without refrigerators, air conditioning, fresh water and flushing toilets. When their pets become sick, they don't take them to the vet.

Gary Patronek, a doctor of veterinary medicine and an assistant professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts, founded the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium 10 years ago. Though hoarding has long been written up in veterinary journals, only recently has the human component been examined, he says.

"The mainstream psychology community needs to get involved," he says. "It's almost like an orphan disease."

Those who hoard animals often show signs of personality disorders, anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders, but the most common trait may be an addictive personality - like alcoholics and drug abusers, he says.

"Imagine a bucket with a hole in the bottom," Patronek says. "No matter how hard they try, no matter how many animals they get, they can never fill it up."

A recent study suggests that hoarders' early years are chaotic, with parents who were abusive or couldn't be depended upon for proper care and nurturing.

"We're starting to understand that this arises out of childhood trauma," he says. "Parents weren't someone they could turn to for help because they might be the threat. That important attachment doesn't form. An animal may be the one thing the child could turn to for comfort."

Researchers don't know why the young adult years are usually free of hoarding behavior. But they say the loss of a loved one, a job or other forms of economic support may trigger the animal lover to slip into hoarding in midlife or later. Almost half of all hoarders are 60 or older. Sometimes it marks a descent into dementia.

Hoarders put themselves at risk, breathing dangerous amounts of ammonia from animal urine and sometimes suffering from diseases passed by the animals. Although most live alone, some share quarters with children, grandchildren or older relatives, jeopardizing their health as well. Neighbors and their pets also can suffer when a hoarder and diseased animals live nearby.

In almost 80 percent of the cases in one study, dead animals were found in hoarders' homes. In one case, an elderly woman stacked dead cats and dogs in a spare room, then closed the door.

Some hoarders believe they have special abilities to communicate or empathize with animals and argue that no one understands the special care they provide. Many see saving animals as their life's mission.

'Judges Don't Get It'

Huge rats, aggressive dogs and spooked cats greeted Pasco County animal control officers during an abuse investigation at a feces-encrusted mobile home in early 2006. Almost 100 cats and dogs - sick, unsocialized, malnourished - shared the small space with Eric and Susan Steffey, a couple in their 40s.

The pair retreated to a barn to cook their food and shower with a garden hose. Their bed was the only piece of furniture not covered in animal waste.

"It was so atrocious, there was no way you could see it and not be moved," says Terry Spencer, an animal control veterinarian. "The depth of the problem changed everyone here forever."

This time, the animal specialists tried to think of ways to help the people.

"Our administrator went out on a limb to find care for the Steffeys," Spencer says. "But it didn't work. We were still the bad guys to them. They never acted upon it."

In the end, a judge allowed the couple to keep three pets - a dog named Stubby and two cats named Precious and Cookie Monster - and some livestock. The couple are not allowed to get any more cats or dogs for at least a year, or until they prove they are able to adequately care for them. Pasco County Animal Control officers also can regularly inspect their property in Hudson to check on the animals.

In dealing with the twin problems of animal hoarding - the mistreated animals and their emotionally troubled owners - communities offer at best a piecemeal approach that rarely works well for either group, says Jennifer Dietz, a Tampa-based lawyer and chairwoman of the Florida Bar's Committee on Animal Law.

Rescued animals healthy enough to be spared euthanasia often languish in cages in animal shelters while the owner's hoarding case wends through court. With budgets already tight, caring for a sudden influx of dozens of animals can overwhelm many shelters.

If the hoarders are elderly, a county's elder services department might get involved to help them find suitable housing, especially if code enforcement declares their homes uninhabitable. If they seem mentally ill, hoarders might be taken into custody using Florida's Baker Act, under which they are involuntarily committed for mental health evaluation and treatment.

Even when a case ends up in court, prosecutors and judges frequently pity the hoarder and go easy. Unless prosecutors see clear evidence that the hoarder intended to hurt the animals or didn't care about their welfare, they are charged with a misdemeanor.

About 40 percent of hoarders who end up before a judge - meaning they are the most egregious offenders - are given jail time. But it's usually less than six months.

"Animal hoarders can present themselves as very sane and sympathetic," Spencer says. "Far from how they appear when we see them, when they get to court, they can look wonderful. We can show a video in court [of the home's condition], and they will have an explanation for everything, how that was just a one-time occurrence.

"Judges will decide to let them keep, say, three cats. But that's like giving an alcoholic a bottle of liquor. Judges don't get it."

Sometimes the hoarder is ordered to pay for the cost of the animals' care while in the shelter. But a recent study could find no instances in which hoarders came through with the cash.

Unless a prosecutor asks for it, judges often fail to prohibit the hoarder from owning pets again, and the cycle continues.

"The gavel goes down, and the person has little incentive to change," Patronek says.

The first time Holmes came before a judge, she was given explicit instructions along with permission to keep four pets: They had to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered, fleas had to be controlled, and if she wanted more than four, she needed written consent from animal services. That didn't stop her from acquiring - and neglecting - 31 more.

Through her attorney, Holmes declined to be interviewed for this story. In May, a judge ruled that she could no longer own animals. She has since moved from her south Tampa apartment and is thought to be living in Pasco County.

The best outcome reported in a nationwide study of more than 50 hoarders occurred when an animal control officer established a friendship with a hoarder and periodically checked on her. But few counties or cities have the resources for such intense follow-up.

A Team Approach

Because agencies are "baffled" about how to deal with these complicated cases, Patronek says it's often easier for them to "simply turn their heads and ignore the situation."

Dietz says it would help if agencies worked together from the get-go.

"What we need is an interdisciplinary approach - psychologists, police, animal control, prosecutors, social workers - people who specialize in this problem and move in as a team to help," she says.

The strength of Florida's laws governing animals ranks it among the top third of states, says lawyer Stephan Otto with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization based in California. The strongest laws are in California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan and Oregon. Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, North Dakota and Utah have the weakest.

"Strong laws alone won't solve the problem," he says. "You need a strong foundation of services for people, along with laws that protect the animals."

Otto says that when many animals are affected, charging a hoarder with a misdemeanor is not enough. But knowing what to charge is problematic. Though it's considered a felony in Florida to intentionally club a dog with a baseball bat, intent in hoarding cases is difficult to prove.

The organization also recommends requiring mental health examinations for hoarders and mandatory forfeiture of the right to own animals.

Nationally, only one in four hoarders is referred for psychological assessment, and only 5 percent are ordered to never again keep pets.

"It would be a huge plus for Florida if hoarders were kept from owning animals," Otto says. "Due to the high rates of recidivism, it's critical to break the cycle. We need to get these people the help they need."

Florida also needs specific wording in its statutes, he says; only Illinois includes the phrase "animal hoarding." Additionally, a database should be established so hoarders cannot escape detection or additional punishment simply by moving across the county line.

But even with careful monitoring, a few animal hoarders sometimes use like-minded confederates or sympathetic relatives to help them evade the law. If they know the authorities are coming, they'll quickly farm out their animals, Patronek says. They see it as saving the lives of their pets, which usually have been given names and are thought of as family members. They grieve when animals are carried away by animal services.

Many animal rescue shelters are on the up-and-up, but some serve as fronts for hoarders.

"It's a very effective ploy for hoarders to claim they're a no-kill shelter," Patronek says. "They may have a beautiful Web site of healthy, happy pets, but when you see the reality, it's nothing like that."

He suggests that people be wary of rescue groups that claim they never turn away an animal, no matter how sick or aggressive.

"It's really a fantasy to think you can take all these animals and never have to euthanize any," he says. "And these are people who never give them away once they get them."

In a small number of cases, the animal hoarder is considered an "overwhelmed caregiver," someone who loves animals and wants to save them but gets in over his or her head.

"These people usually breathe a sigh of relief when someone wants to take one of the animals off their hands," Patronek says. "They started out doing the right thing but showed a slow decline."

The experts, too, say they struggle with conflicting feelings of anger, frustration and sympathy for hoarders.

"We need for the community to try to understand, and we need resources," Dietz says. "These people aren't malicious, but they do need social services and medical help."

Reporter Donna Koehn can be reached at (813) 259-8264 or dkoehn@tampatrib.com.

RECENT CASES

JULY: A Seffner home is condemned and its 81-year-old owner assisted by the Hillsborough County Aging Services department when her 32 cats and 20 dogs are found diseased and lacking socialization. The woman is reportedly disheveled and smeared with feces. All the cats are euthanized.

MAY: At least 70 dogs in poor shape are seized from a Clair-Mel City couple in their 70s who say they breed the animals to sell them. A few cats and miniature horses also are found. No criminal charges are filed.

APRIL: Hillsborough County Animal Services seizes more than 50 dogs of four breeds from a home in Lutz because they say the owner, 71, is improperly confining them in containers with carpeting over the air holes. She is charged with multiple misdemeanors; it is the third time authorities had come to her home to warn her to improve conditions.

APRIL: In Clearwater, a 57-year-old woman is taken into custody for mental evaluation under the state's Baker Act when two dogs and more than 100 cats are found living in urine and feces in her small home. Her elderly mother also lives there and is taken to a nursing home. The home is condemned.

APRIL: A 46-year-old woman is charged with nine counts of animal cruelty and nine misdemeanor counts of improper confinement after Tampa police see nine dehydrated cats in a car she is towing. The temperature in the car is 110 degrees.

FEBRUARY: Forty-one hounds and hound-mixes are rescued from poor living conditions on two properties in Dover. The owner, 44, is charged with six counts of animal cruelty and 25 counts of improper confinement without food or water. He says he is using the animals to track nuisance hogs.

NOVEMBER: A Gibsonton woman, 47, is arrested and charged with animal cruelty and improperly confining 51 cats without food or water. All are euthanized. Authorities previously had visited the house and warned her to improve conditions. An 83-year-old woman shares the home.

JANUARY 2006: Pasco County Animal Control officers find 80 cats and 20 dogs crammed into cages and crawling with parasites while investigating a complaint against a Hudson couple in their 40s. Charges are not filed.

Research by MICHAEL MESSANO and DONNA KOEHN

BY THE NUMBERS

The number of animals hoarded in the United States is estimated at 250,000, but the actual number likely is higher. Here are some statistics about those who fill their homes with pets:

73 percent are women.

49 percent are 60 or older.

55 percent own dogs.

82 percent own cats. (Multiple species are involved in many cases.)

17 percent own birds.

60 percent deny they have a problem.

80 percent live in homes in which dead or dying animals are found.

69 percent have living areas in which animal feces and urine have accumulated.

25 percent sleep in beds soiled with animal feces and urine.

40 percent are sentenced to jail, usually less than six months.

50 percent are fined.

26 percent are ordered by a judge to undergo psychological assessment.

5 percent are ordered by a judge never to own animals again.

Sources: Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium at Tufts University, Animal Law journal

TRAITS OF A HOARDER

Researchers determine someone is an animal hoarder if they:

•Have more than the typical number of companion animals

•Are unable to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness and death of the animals

•Deny that they are unable to provide the minimum care and don't recognize the effect of that failure on the animals, the household and the human occupants of the dwelling

Source: Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium at Tufts University