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Aug 3, 2006 11:53 pm US/Eastern
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'Animal Hoarding' Becoming A Big Problem
by Angela Russell
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
The people that live inside so-called animal home say they are animal lovers who would never dream of hurting their four legged companions.
However, area SPCA officials are seeing an alarming trend in a behavior that therapists call animal hoarding.
The cases are piling up.
"Animal waste on the sinks, countertops and floor," said New Jersey SPCA Sgt. Jane Donohue when taking a walk through an animal infested home.
No matter how disgusting things get, animal hoarders can't stop.
"They feel everything they are doing is right, the horrible stench, they don't smell it," said Sgt. Donohue
Sgt. Jane Donohue says one animal hoarder's home left her struggling to breathe for days.
She also says her agency is seeing more of these cases.
"We get one or two a year but in the last two months, we've had five," said Donohue.
In West Deptford, 70 cats alone were found in a couple's home.
"Many are emaciated, not going to survive, leukemia, staggering, falling down," was said by an animal control officer at the Deptford home.
One hundred cats and three dogs were stashed away in a home in Dover, Delaware only a month back.
In Upper Darby, CBS 3 found James Winter in the midst of a massive clean up at his home, as it was deemed "not suitable for any use" by township health officers.
They had to remove 69 felines from Winter's home.
"Actually, I don't think the count is as high as they thought, I think some of the cats were counted twice, butt I counted 43," said Winter.
That is a denial therapist Kimberly Flemke says it comes with the territory.
"It has been compared to substance abusing disorders because you have a lot of the same elements, sense of denial, sense of isolation," said Flemke, adding, "There's a lot of excuses for their behavior for what they're doing"
Experts say animal hoarding can be similar to any type of hoarding in which people have trouble getting rid of things.
In fact, Winter describes his wife as somewhat of a pack rat.
"She's kind of a collector; she's an animal person, she really is, she can't stand to see an animal suffer or anything suffer," added Winter.
"They don't see that the animals are sick and dying," said Dr. Flemke.
Authorities throughout the area are prosecuting these cases but charges don't necessarily lead to a cure.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)