US - hoarding of animals research consortium

Animal hoarding is an important, misunderstood, and under-recognized community problem that affects both human and animal welfare. It is responsible for substantial animal suffering and property damage. Often associated with adult self-neglect, animal hoarding can also place children, elders, and dependent adults at serious risk and can be an economic burden to taxpayers.

Animal hoarding is defined by four characteristics:

- failure to provide minimal standards of sanitation, space, nutrition, and veterinary care for the animals;

- inability to recognize the effects of this failure on the welfare of the animals, human members of the household, and the environment;

- obsessive attempts to accumulate or maintain a collection of animals in the face of progressively deteriorating conditions, and

- denial or minimization of problems and living conditions for people and animals.

Report: Animal Hoarding
Structuring interdisciplinary responses to help people, animals and communities at risk

Chapter One:
Creating an Interdisciplinary Approach – Identifying and Working with Stakeholder Agencies
    1.1 Barriers to an Interdisciplinary Approach
    1.2 Who Should Play a Role in Addressing Animal Hoarding Cases - Overview of the Stakeholder Agencies
    1.3 Agencies Working on Behalf of Animals
    1.4 Working with Animal Welfare Agencies
    1.5 Local Law Enforcement.6
    1.6 Working with Law Enforcement Agencies
    1.7 Health Department
    1.8 Social Service Agencies
    1.9 Code Enforcement
    1.10 Legal Aid
    1.11 Department of Agriculture
    1.12 Additional Stakeholders

Chapter Two:
Gaining Inter-Agency Cooperation to Create Interdisciplinary Responses
    2.1 Gaining Cooperation
    2.2 Using Effective Terminology
    2.3 Communicating the True Cost of Hoarding Cases
    2.4 Accommodating Differences in Missions
    2.5 Understanding the Order of Things
    2.6 Implementing Long-Term Solutions
    2.7 When You Can’t Get Action

Chapter Three:
Understanding the Animal Hoarder – Types of Hoarders
    3.1 Overwhelmed Caregiver
    3.2 Rescuer Hoarders
    3.3 Exploiter Hoarders
  
Chapter Four:
Matching Intervention Strategies to Types of Hoarders
    4.1 Criminal Interventions
    4.2 Civil and Regulatory Interventions
    4.3 Mental Health Interventions

Chapter Five:
Decreasing the Likelihood of Recidivism
    5.1 Ensuring Short-Term Compliance
    5.2 Monitoring and Follow-Up
    5.3 Facilitating Long-Term Change

Final Thoughts

Reference: www.tufts.edu

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