Do You Think Animal Hoarders Need Professional Help?
April 15th 2008 21:02
Photo by Mykenik. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The RSPCA officer then explained the reason why they weren’t being fined was because they were cat hoarders. The two women then spoke on camera, saying how they loved cats and started providing homes for strays but they couldn’t stop their cat collecting hobby. What started off as providing a home for one cat soon became an out-of-control situation. When I saw how sad the women looked I started to feel some compassion. When I thought about it, at least those 60 cats had a home – albeit a filthy one – to go to. Else they could have been on the street, vulnerable to being run over by cars or getting into cat fights with other strays. On the other hand, because the two women could not adequately care for their pets, it made them more vulnerable to malnutrition and disease.
It sounded like may be the two women needed professional help. I try not to judge people or to write off people exhibiting unusual behaviour as being loonies or weirdos but this made me think. May be the cat collecting was an obsession. And because the women didn’t know how to curb it may be it does mean they need professional help. My personal threshold for whether someone should seek professional help is whether or not their behaviour hurts others. I once saw a documentary about a man who hoarded everything – including his own urine and faeces. When interviewed he said he couldn’t understand what the problem was. It could be argued that he should be left alone since he isn’t hurting anyone. If he wants to keep his own faeces that’s his own business. On the other hand, it could also be argued his filthy house was a hygiene issue and a breeding ground for bacteria which would harm him and his neighbours. The same arguments could easily apply to animal hoarders. What do you think?
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