Animal Hoarders and the Role of Law

The lack of strong animal laws may pose the biggest problem in trying to stop animal hoarding. Private owners and animal shelters are not regulated by Federal Law with regard to animal care. Despite the widespread use of animal cruelty statutes throughout the US, every state prohibits cruel treatment of animals and/or requires owners to provide adequate food, clean water, a sanitary environment, and sufficient veterinary care to their animals.

Accordingly, hoarding would seem to be the very definition of a fundamental violation. There are a variety of reasons, namely the way the statutes are written haste 5e spell, that make it difficult to establish a law violation in actual practice, despite what appears from reading the statutes. As a result of ambiguous and outdated legal language, a lot of interpretation is possible. It is possible to define what is necessary by the hoarder.

There is also a problem of psychological suffering from chronic neglect, intensive confinement in small cages, lack of socialization opportunities or being confined around aggressive or threatening animals that causes cruelty in such situations. A quality of life issue would be a more appropriate way to describe these matters, though quality of life is almost universally absent from existing legislation. Therefore, courts are required to combine expert testimony with standard of living standards. In fact, there are often no statutory standards for animal husbandry. In fact, many laws apply only to specific entities, including pet stores, shelters, kennels, and catteries, whereas individuals such as hoarders have no legal protection.

However, the only way to intervene in hoarding cases is to conduct investigations under cruelty to animals statutes. A humane investigator should oversee such an investigation, or guide it if necessary. This means that the collection of evidence in these cases must be airtight from the start to get a warrant which will be able to stand up and lead either to a conviction or to a favorable negotiated settlement or plea bargain.

If the hoarder is a breeder as well, what happens?

When the animal hoarder down the street is also a breeder, what can be done? It’s obvious the “dog lady” down the street has too many dogs, but what can be done when she is also an animal hoarder? Breeders of purebred dogs need to be very concerned about this issue. Those who are well dressed, polite, and well spoken can easily pass for normal people, giving them the opportunity to conceal their secret. People are not allowed access to hoarders’ houses or kennels in the majority of cases. The appearance of hoarders at public dog events can be charming on the surface. A misinformed population may enable hoarders to continue their fall into mental illness and cruelty due to their lack of understanding of animal hoarding.

Animal hoarding often isn’t apparent until one visits the home of a hoarder and sees how filthy the living conditions are. It is often necessary to burn down or bulldoze the homes of animal hoarders because they are so appalling. When placing a dog into the care of a breeder or rescue group, reputable organizations will not only conduct extensive interviews, but also make a visit to the premises for them to ensure that the animal will not be taken by a hoarder.

An overview

Even though the general public is unaware of animal hoarding, it is an extremely serious mental illness that impacts entire communities and takes the greatest toll on its victims. Despite living in abominable conditions and causing their animals to suffer horribly, hoarders manage to appear as intriguing and worthwhile members of society. There are no effective medical treatments available for animal hoarding, since the law is antiquated and ill-equipped to handle the situation.

The legal system fails to monitor the activities of hoarders, so even if they are convicted, they will most likely hoard again. All of us who care for our animals have a responsibility to prevent and stop hoarding. Keeping eyes and ears open within the community for signs of hoarders is vital; we must update the laws and stiffen penalties for convicted hoarders. Hoarders must also be closed down according to specific, well-documented steps when suspected.