SHOULD HORDERS WHO HAVE BEEN WARNED BE TREATED AS ABUSERS

[LAURA P]

MOST HORDERS WHO HAVE HAD PRIOR INTERVENTION START TO COLLECT ANIMALS AGAIN. IN THINKING THEY ARE SAVING THE ANIMALS USUALLY NEGLECT BECOMES AN ISSUE. SHOULD WE TREAT SERIAL HORDERS AS ABUSERS? SHOULD THEY FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES OR MANDATORY TREATMENT WITH SUBSEQUENT VIOLATIONS OF LAWS?

[Dr. Randall Lockwood]

Almost all animal hoarders start up again without intervention, treatment and monitoring. The best response is to aim for "relapse prevention" by using multiple agencies (police, animal care, mental health, social service) to share the burden of monitoring the hoarder. One of the reasons I favor criminal prosecution of serious hoarding cases is that it can result in lengthy periods of probation, during which the court can monitor the situation and impose sanctions (including jail) if more animals are subjected to abuse and neglect. The website of the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium has lots of resources for understanding and dealing with hoarders. Go to tufts.edu and seach on "hoarding" to get to the latest info.