The morbid collection of animals broke a sad record in 2021. This is shown by a recently published analysis of data from the German Animal Welfare Federation for the past ten years. 68 cases of animal hoarding with over 4,200 affected animals were reported to the association last year - more than ever before. Over the past ten years, animal welfare activists have counted a total of more than 30,000 hoarded animals in 437 cases. A high number of unreported cases can be assumed.
“The figures are shocking. Behind every single case is unbelievable animal suffering: while the owners often don't even realize that their animals are in a bad way and may still take in more, the animals live in their own urine and excrement in a confined space, are neglected, malnourished and sick. They reproduce completely uncontrollably. In many cases, animal rights activists recover dead animals during rescue operations,” comments Nina Brakebusch, expert on animal hoarding at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
CATS MOST FREQUENTLY AFFECTED
Since the German Animal Welfare Federation began collecting data, cats have been the animals most frequently affected by animal hoarding in all years: They were hoarded in a total of 201 cases. Dogs were affected in 186 cases, small pets in 134, but with 10,709 individuals, the latter are the most frequent victims of animal hoarding in absolute terms. The number of cases in which farm animals, including horses, were hoarded has been increasing since 2014. While their share was still around four percent in 2014, they accounted for almost 15 percent of all cases in 2021.
CRISES CAN EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM
Over the past ten years, both the number of cases and the number of animals affected has risen significantly. While the Animal Welfare Federation counted 22 cases in the first year of the evaluation in 2012, this figure has now more than tripled. It is unclear whether more animals are actually being hoarded or whether more cases are being uncovered because the authorities and the public are more aware. According to Brakebusch, it is conceivable that the current crisis - characterized by the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rising cost of living - could have exacerbated the problem: “Often a stroke of fate, such as the death of a relative, the deterioration of one's own mental health or financial hardship, leads to people slipping into hoarding. There may have been more triggers like this recently.” The group of people who carelessly acquired an animal during the pandemic and are now increasingly overwhelmed by it also offers great potential for future cases of animal hoarding.
HELP FOR ANIMAL SHELTERS AND PET PROTECTION ORDINANCE
The care of confiscated animals from animal hoarding cases represents an enormous additional burden for animal shelters, which are currently struggling with rising costs and the surrender of “corona animals”. As an umbrella organization, the Animal Welfare Federation is calling for better financial support from local authorities. Only a pet protection ordinance with clear guidelines for breeding and keeping individual animal species and mandatory proof of expertise can curb the problem in the long term. In addition, a comprehensive central register for animal owners who have become conspicuous would help the authorities to take action against hoarders. In order to offer those affected better treatment options, animal rights activists are also campaigning for animal hoarding to be recognized as a medical condition. Without appropriate treatment, the relapse rate is almost one hundred percent.
