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We recently received a report of a 65-year-old hoarder in Maine, who—despite having been convicted of cruelty to animals in 2005 and barred from owning any animals for the rest of her life—was apparently once again stockpiling a menagerie of animals.

A concerned neighbor reached out to PETA after several high-ranking officials failed to act on his complaints, deeming the situation a parole violation only. With a little work, we were eventually able to locate a district attorney who was willing to prosecute, provided that we could obtain the necessary evidence.

We then found a sympathetic state trooper who agreed to visit the woman's property. According to his account, when he arrived he got the shock of a lifetime. After he told the woman that he had a warrant for her arrest (for an unrelated matter), she reportedly attacked him with a stun gun to his head and neck. When she refused to drop the weapon, he used pepper spray to subdue her, handcuffed her, and called for backup.

Animal control agents arrived to find more than 40 animals on her property, including dogs, cats, parrots, chickens, ducks, alpacas, a donkey, and a pot-bellied pig. Almost all the animals were in cages. The animals were sent to shelters around the state, and the hoarder is now being held awaiting bail.

Folks, you might know of someone in your neighborhood whose yard is teeming with stray cats or someone who has a multitude of neglected dogs barking nonstop in his or her backyard. Please know that there's a very strong possibility that this person is a hoarder—a mentally ill person with a compulsion to acquire "things" they can't bring themselves to discard. Hoarders don't try to find loving homes for their animals—in fact, they usually resist any effort to do so. In this case, more than 40 animals might have died from neglect and disease had it not been for police intervention!

A person who hoards animals doesn't love animals any more than a hoarder who fills his or her house with garbage loves trash. The big difference, of course, is that empty pizza boxes and beer bottles don't suffer and die from neglect—but animals do.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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The views expressed here are those of the author alone, are subject to change, and may not represent the views of PETA. They are being provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Except where third party ownership or copyright is indicated or credited regarding materials contained in this blog, copying, reproduction, or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content, or materials contained in this weblog for personal, noncommercial use is enthusiastically encouraged.

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