How to Report a Friend For Animal Hoarding
Animal hoarders still live in society, even though they may go unnoticed because they have isolated themselves by actions they have taken toward family and friends. While it may not be immediately obvious to neighbors, friends, family members or coworkers, the hoarder is gradually losing the ability to care for all the animals he has collected. Early involvement, removal of all of the animals -- dead or alive -- and mental health counseling may be the best intervention for the hoarder, so he does not return to the same pattern of animal collecting.Things You'll Need
- Pictures of the hoarding
Instructions
-
-
1
Learn about animal hoarding and its causes. Hoarders are more likely to collect and hoard too many animals because they suffer from an emotional or mental disorder. Far from being the "cat lady down the block," the hoarder does not realize how she is hurting her beloved animals.
-
2
Call the animal shelter or Humane Society in your community. Report the conditions in the home and give your friend's name and the address. Show the pictures you have taken of the conditions in the home. You are not doing this to cause problems for your friend. Because he has an emotional illness, he needs to get help from a mental health professional so he can begin to understand why he hoards animals.
-
3
Intervene with law enforcement authorities for your friend and ask that she be offered the opportunity for therapy rather than prosecution. Laws against animal hoarding do exist, but prosecution does not address the root causes of animal hoarding.
-
4
Contact your friend after law enforcement and animal control have been to his house. If he allows you to, explain why you reported him. Discuss your concern that he has isolated himself with his animals. Let him know that, while he loves animals, the degree to which he was collecting them was hurting them, not helping them. Urge him to get counseling or psychological help.
-
1