Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:25:24.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characteristics of 24 cases of animal hoarding in Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

P Calvo ,
C Duarte ,
J Bowen ,
A Bulbena  and
J Fatjó
P Calvo*
Affiliation:
Chair Affinity Foundation Animals and Health, C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain IMIM (Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques), C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
C Duarte
Affiliation:
ANAA, Asociación Nacional de Amigos de los Animales, Apartado de Correos 197, 28140, Fuente el Saz de Jarama, Madrid, Spain
J Bowen
Affiliation:
Chair Affinity Foundation Animals and Health, C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals, The Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA, UK
A Bulbena
Affiliation:
Chair Affinity Foundation Animals and Health, C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain IMIM (Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques), C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain INAD (Institut de Neuropsiquatria i Addiccions), Parc de Salut Mar, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
J Fatjó
Affiliation:
Chair Affinity Foundation Animals and Health, C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain IMIM (Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques), C/Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: pcalvoetologia@gmail.com
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Animal hoarding is considered to be an under-reported problem, which affects the welfare of both people and animals. Few published studies on animal hoarding are available in the scientific literature, particularly outside North America. The present study was designed to obtain data on animal hoarding in Spain, with a particular focus on animal welfare issues. Data were obtained retrospectively from 24 case reports of animal hoarding involving a total of 1,218 dogs and cats and 27 hoarders. All cases were the result of legal intervention by a Spanish humane society during the period from 2002 to 2011. Hoarders could be characterised as elderly, socially isolated men and women who tended to hoard only one species (dog or cat). Most cases presented a chronic course of more than five years of animal hoarding. The average number of animals per case was 50, with most animals being dogs. In 75% of cases the animals showed indications of poor welfare, including poor body condition, and the presence of wounds, parasitic and infectious illnesses. Amongst the hoarded animals aggression and social fear were the most commonly reported behaviours. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on animal hoarding in Spain and one of the first in Europe. Further studies are needed to fully elucidate the epidemiology, cross-cultural differences and aetiology of this under-recognised public health and welfare problem. More research might help to find efficient protocols to assist in the resolution and prevention of this kind of problem.

Keywords

animal hoardinganimal welfarecat welfaredog welfareobject hoardingpathological altruism
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 199 - 208
Copyright
© 2014 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

APA (American Psychiatric Association) 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth Edition (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Publishing: Arlington, USAGoogle Scholar
Arluke, A 2006 Hoarders: shoring up self. In: Arluke, A (ed) Just a Dog. Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves pp 85–114. Temple University Press: Philadelphia, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arluke, A, Frost, R, Steketee, G, Patronek, G, Luke, C, Messner, E, Nathanson, J and Papazian, M 2002 Press reports of animal hoarding. Society and Animals 10(2): 113–135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853002320292282Google Scholar
Arluke, A and Killeen, C 2009 Inside Animal Hoarding: The Case of Barbara Erickson and Her 552 Dogs. Purdue University Press: West Lafayette, USAGoogle Scholar
Berry, C, Patronek, G and Lockwood, R 2005 Long-term outcomes in animal hoarding cases. Animal Law 11: 167–193Google Scholar
Brambell, FWR 1965 Report on the Technical Committee to Enquire into the Welfare of Livestock Kept Under Intensive Husbandry Systems. HMSO: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Edsell-Vetter, J and Patronek, G 2011 Hoarding of animals. In: Bratiotis, C, Sorrentino Schmalisch, C and Steketee, G (eds) The Hoarding Handbook: A Guide for Human Service Professionals pp 109-124. Oxford University Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Frost, R, Patronek, G and Rosenfield, E 2011 A comparison of object and animal hoarding. Depression and Anxiety 28(10): 885–891. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.20826Google ScholarPubMed
Frost, R and Steketee, G 2011 Rescue: saving animals from a life on the streets. In: Frost, R and Steketee, G (eds) Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and The Meaning of Things pp 118–133. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Frost, R, Steketee, G and Williams, L 2000 Hoarding: a community health problem. Health and Social Care in the Community 8(4): 229–234. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j. 1365-2524.2000.00245.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC) 2000 People who hoard animals. Psychiatric Times 17: 25–29.Google Scholar
Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC) 2002 Health implications of animal hoarding. Health and Social Work 27(2): 125–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hsw/27.2.125Google Scholar
Kohn, R, Wintrob, RM and Alarcón, RD 2009 Transcultural psychiatry. In: Sadock, BJ, Sadock, VA and Ruíz, P (eds) Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Ninth Edition pp 734-753. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, USAGoogle Scholar
Kring, AM and Johnson, SL 2013 Obsessive-compulsive-related and trauma-related disorders. In: Kring, AM and Johnson, SL (eds) Abnormal Psychology, Twelfth Edition pp 203–225 John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, USAGoogle Scholar
Lawrie, M 2005 Animal hoarders in Australia: shining light through dark shades. 15th Urban Animal Management Conference pp 77–82. 19-21 October 2005, Canberra, AustraliaGoogle Scholar
Lockwood, R 2005 Cruelty towards cats: changing perspectives. In: Salem, DJ and Rowan, AN (eds) The State of Animals III: 2005 pp 15–26. Humane Society Press: Washington DC, USAGoogle Scholar
Marchand, S and Phillips McEnany, G 2012 Hoarding's place in the DSM-5: another symptom, or a newly listed disorder? Issues in Mental Health Nursing 33: 591–597. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2012.704134Google ScholarPubMed
Mataix-Cols, D, Fernández de la Cruz, L, Nakao, T and Pertusa, A 2011 Testing the validity and acceptability of the diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder: a DSM-5 survey. Psychological Medicine 41: 2475–2484. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291711000754CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mataix-Cols, D, Frost, R, Pertusa, A, Clark, LA, Saxena, S, Leckman, JF, Stein, DJ, Matsunaga, H and Wilhelm, S 2010 Hoarding disorder: a new diagnosis for DSM-V? Depression and Anxiety 27: 556–572. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.20693CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nathanson, JN 2009 Animal hoarding: slipping into the darkness of co-morbid animal and self-neglect. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect 21(4): 307–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08946560903004839Google Scholar
Nathanson, JN and Patronek, GJ 2012 Animal hoarding: how the semblance of a benevolent mission becomes actualized as egoism and cruelty. In: Oakley, B, Knafo, A, Madhavan, G and Wilson, DS (eds) Pathological Altruism pp 107–115. Oxford University Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) 2007 NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards p 15. NIOSH Publications: Cincinnati, USAGoogle Scholar
Patronek, G 1999 Hoarding of animals: an under-recognized public health problem in a difficult-to-study population. Public Health Reports 11: 81–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/phr/114.1.81CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patronek G and Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC) 2001 The problem of animal hoarding. Municipal Lawyer 19: 6–9Google Scholar
Patronek, G, Loar, L and Nathanson, J 2006 Animal hoarding: structuring interdisciplinary responses to help people, animals and communities at risk. Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium: Tufts University, Boston, USAGoogle Scholar
Patronek, G and Nathanson, J 2009 A theoretical perspective to inform assessment and treatment strategies for animal hoarders. Clinical Psychology Review 29: 274–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.01.006Google ScholarPubMed
Perroud, N, Guipponi, M, Pertusa, A, Fullana, MA, Iervolino, AC, Cherkas, L, Spector, T, Collier, D and Mataix-Cols, D 2010 Genome-wide association study of hoarding traits. American Journal of Medical Genetics 9999B: 1–3Google Scholar
Pertusa, A, Frost, RO, Fullana, MA, Samuels, J, Steketee, G, Tolin, D, Saxena, S, Leckman, JF and Mataix-Cols, D 2010 Refining the diagnostic boundaries of compulsive hoarding: a critical review. Clinical Psychology Review 30(4): 371–386. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramos, D, da Cruz, NO, Ellis, SLH, Hernandez, JAE and Reche-Junior, A 2013 Early stage animal hoarders: are these owners of large numbers of adequately cared for cats? Bulletin of Human-Animal Bond Interaction 1(1): 55–69Google Scholar
Reinisch, AI 2009 Characteristics of six recent animal hoarding cases in Manitoba. The Canadian Veterinary Journal 50: 1069–1073Google Scholar
Steketee, G, Gibson, A, Frost, RO, Alabiso, J, Arluke, A and Patronek, G 2011 Characteristics and antecedents of people who hoard animals: an exploratory comparative interview study. Review of General Psychology 15(2): 114–124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023484CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Topal, J, Miklosi, A, Csanyi, V and Doka, A 1998 Attachment behaviour in dogs (Canis familiaris): a new application of Ainsworth (1969) Strange Situation Test. Journal of Comparative Psychology 112(3): 219–229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.112.3.219Google Scholar
Vaca-Guzman, M and Arluke, A 2005 Normalizing passive cruelty: the excuses and justifications of animal hoarders. Anthrozoös 18(4): 338–357. http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/089279305785593947CrossRefGoogle Scholar