I'm really annoyed...I hate animal hoarding.

[wolfsoul]

Some of you know that my grandma has a problem -- she's an animal hoarder. It's a very horrible psychological problem that no one can really do anything about.

Well, her best friend moved to Ontario. Her friend atleast takes decent care of her animals, but she's really not much better. She breeds and sells everything from puppies, kittens, goats, birds, degus, gerbils, goats, chinchillas, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, to larger things like horses, llamas, and alpacas. Well, I guess she didn't want 6 of her dogs anymore so she gave three of them to my grandma before she moved, telling her that she could sell them for $200 a piece.

My grandma may have been able to handle that without getting attached -- but oh no, it turns out that these border collies had very little human interaction and they are fear-biters. They spent their entire life in a pen, so you think they'd be used to it, but when my grandma tried to get them in a crate, they kept trying to bite her. She had to grab them by their tails and fling them in there to actually get them in, and even then they tried to attack her.

So now she says she has to hold on to them for a couple of months until they are better-behaved. Well, a couple of months could turn out to be alot longer with her problem.

Not only that, but now she's found out that her dog, Nicki, is pregnant. You guys might remember Nicki -- the winter before last I took her pups in --- Remember them? Anyways, this is her third litter. She's 8 years old, this is terrible for her health! Her first litter she had alot of GORGEOUS puppies --- merles, whites, ticked pups, odd eyes, blue eyes...the her last litter was a bunch of black and tans. Hopefully this litter turns out to be merles because they will go alot faster. We aren't allowed puppies in this house but we are probably the only ones willing to have them.

And at this very moment she's at the vet with her cat. The same cat she dropped at my house early this year to look after. This poor cat should have been put to sleep right then. My grandma has already spent almost $1000 trying to keep her alive, and she's just going to die. She has kidney disease but she gets the same food the other cats do, and it's not good for her kidneys.

Animal hoarding is such a terrible disease and it hurts the person, and animals, and eveyone around them. I hate seeing what her animals go through. I wish it would stop.

Thanks for listening.

[bckrazy]

wow, I'm so sorry you have to deal with that in your family ... hoarders are at least better than people who completely abuse/neglect/breed dogs just for money. The love is still there with your Grandma, just kindof selfish/attached. It must be horrible for you, being a dog lover

Originally posted by wolfsoul
My grandma may have been able to handle that without getting attached -- but oh no, it turns out that these border collies had very little human interaction and they are fear-biters. They spent their entire life in a pen, so you think they'd be used to it, but when my grandma tried to get them in a crate, they kept trying to bite her. She had to grab them by their tails and fling them in there to actually get them in, and even then they tried to attack her.

Wow, these dogs will need a lot of work. Sometimes more than one person can do with only 1 dog, much less a housefull of animals!! PLEASE contact BC rescues in your area, I know there are tons of awesome BC Rescues in Canada. They bite her because the DONT want to go back to living in pens, they probably have a huge fear of small spaces now.. crating them will not help at ALL. They're probably neurotic messes, BC's are one of the breeds that has been bred for years to RUN.. without open space, intellectual/physical stimulation every day they are completely miserable and a HUGE mess. Definitely try to tell this to your Grandma, they need professional help, more than she can give. Also get her 8 year-old to a spay/neuter clinic ASAP.

Has your family tried to do an intervention here? Has anyone contacted Animal Control (if she's exceding the dog limit, or she isn't able to take adequate care of them all)...? You might be able to get an order that says she cannot own animals or can only own a limited number of animals, this seems unhealthy for all involved.

[wolfsoul]

Thanks for your reply.

I will see if there are some BC rescues here, but she has no car, and no one in my family will be willing to drive the dogs. Someone would have to pick the dogs up. I told my grandma all about BCs and that they need alot of exercise and mental stimulation -- I know she knows, but she's in denial. She likes to think she's doing the dogs a favour. She isn't keeping them in a pen -- the dogs used to be in a pen. They are tied up to doghouses on 10 foot leashes at night and are let loose during the day.

There are no spay/neuter clinics here. The money from her last litter was supposed to go towards her spay, but my mom decided to keep the money for herself.

The SPCA has been to her house. They won't do anything about it because they are idiots. The reason she left town in the first place was because the SPCA would get called on her atleast once a month by her neighbors. They won't do anything about it though (strange, because most times the SPCA here loves to take animals that aren't even in abusive situations). Animal control won't do anything unless her animals have attacked someone. They don't have a limit on cats, and because she lives on an acerage, she is allowed as many dogs as she likes. Animal control knows about her (I have family that works there) and when one of her dogs shows up there, they just give the dog right back.

I'm afraid it's a hopeless case at this point. My grandma is very sick because of the bird poop and the ammonia from the cat pee. She has some disease in her lungs. I don't know how long it will take for her to be hospitalized, but when she is, my mom and I will just go up there and take all of her animals. I will take in the kittens, dogs, and guinea pigs --- Unfortunatly the cats will have to go to the SPCA, and various rescues and friends (I definatly won't have room for 100 cats). I don't know what will happen to the chickens. I will probably just ask some local egg farms to take them and keep a couple for myself for eggs.

We'll also have to take sooo much stuff from her house and just burn it. Animal hoarders are known for collecting old newspapers and everything. She just has to hold onto EVERYTHING. And of course, with the amount of cats, everything is just trashed. It is such a health hazard and disgusting. My mom actually went up there once to help her clean and she was amazed. You could open this one door just enough for you to squeeze in, and the entire room was FILLED with stacks of newspapers. You couldn't walk inside the room because the stacks took up every bit of floor space and were piled to the roof!!! Her BED is covered in cat poop and pee. She doesn't even have a bath tub so she can't wash. It's terrible. It is a very very typical hoarder situation. People are really no help. All of her life people have dumped animals at her house. The SPCA is no help -- all of her life they have gone to her house for no reason other than to show the neighbors that they do something other than sit on their butts all day.

I really pity her...She just can't understand what she's doing.

[cyber-sibes]

How frustrating for you! You are right, she can't help what she does, she is very sick. This does not mean she is a bad person, just a sick person who can't help herself.
What if you could sneak off just an animal or two at a time and get them to a shelter? Sounds like anything to reduce the number of animals would help. Good suggestion about the BC rescues, those dogs aren't going to do well at all at your Grandma's. Please let us know what happens, and bless you for being so concerned, you'll be in my prayers.

[IRescue452]

My elderly neighbor is a packrat and thankfully not an animal collector. She has three rescued cats that are spayed and neutered. Her kids "help" her clean when she is in the hospital. She can't have less than two of anything I swear it. She has stuff up to the ceilings in her rooms. I know what I would do if she were an animal hoarder. I'd sneak off as many female animals as I could without her noticing. I'd guess most of them are feral and not used to handeling so she'd not notice some being gone.

[binka_nugget]

Try contacting That'll do Border Collie Rescue. They've got some awesome people who seem to be great with difficult dogs. Transporting for rescues seems pretty active around here too.

[LKPike]

Originally posted by wolfsoul
She had to grab them by their tails and fling them in there to actually get them in, and even then they tried to attack her.

So now she says she has to hold on to them for a couple of months until they are better-behaved. Well, a couple of months could turn out to be alot longer with her problem.

is there any wonder as to why they tried to attack her after she "grab them by their tails and fling them in there " ...?

she sure will not improve anything in those dogs by continuing the same abuse they received with the past owner.


but good luck to her anyway.

[bckrazy]

... wow, Jordan, that sounds pretty horrible. I cant imagine what your family is going through and feeling . It sounds like such a sad situation... I agree with trying to take a few animals at a time and giving them to rescues, would she notice that they're gone? Its sad, but I'm sure some of the animals cannot be saved or adoped... having 100 cats, most of them are probably feral and inbred But life is not good for your Grandma or the cats, so its just sad. Have you tried to find fosters/rescues? Maybe your family and some fosters could take some young kittens and socialize them, get them altered and adopt them out?

Also, That'll Do BC Rescue is awesome... I'm SURE they would help those pups out!! http://www.bcbordercollies.com/

[cali]

I see it was already mentioned lol that'll do border collie rescue may be able to help, RDM(dont know her real name lol she is known simply as RDM over the net) is really nice and I am sure she may be able to help out

[jennifert9]

Jordan, she doesn't really have 100 cats does she?!?!?!?!

Perhaps your parents and any brothers and sisters, the children of your grandmother, should get together and get her out of there. It doesn't sound like a safe place for her.
Is their any child that is willing to move her into their home and help her?
I think she needs someone to step in...it's sad....

I'm sure BC rescue would pick up the dogs if you explained the situation.

[wolfsoul]

Thanks everyone.

No, there's no way we can get her out of that situation. She'd never abandon her animals. She has probbaly over 100 cats, then she has the dogs and the chickens. She would refuse to live in the city. There's no way she'd move out.

I'll contact That'll Do BC Rescue...I completely forgot about them. I'll bet they have contacts in the Okanagan. First I'll actually have to see if my grandma is even willing to give the dogs up. She's had confrontations with animal activists and whatnot in the past so she may not react kindly to the idea.

I'm afraid sneaking her animals off a few at a time wouldn't help -- She only leaves her property once a month to come into town because she has no vehicle and she's an hour and a half away, so once a month is all she can do as far as getting a ride here. The animals would just reproduce and replace the others. Luckily (and I know it sounds bad, but) there are lots of bears and coyotes in the area that do their part to keep the cat population at a minimum. Unfortunatly they tend to only eat the altered ones -- I don't know if there are even any altered ones left anymore. She probably has 100 cats -- there was a a time when she lived in big house and she probably had maybe 500, so 100 is a good number in those terms.

I'll contact the rescue tomorrow. Wish me luck.