More animal hoarding *sigh*

[Pam]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=7041012

They said that the cat feces was a foot deep in one of the bedrooms. The woman has been living without utilities since 2005. Don't these hoarding people have anyone (family/friends) to check in on them from time to time? If so, this couldn't happen, could it? Scratching my head...... Poor dogs and cats....hope they are adoptable.

[Karen]

How can there be a warrant out for her since 2005 with no one attempting to bring her in? I don't get it - it isn't like she moved since then ...

Inexcusable, that authorities were aware of this at one point and let it somehow slip through the cracks. She is obviously mentally ill, and the government (city/town/village/state) should have intervened long before this.

As angry as I am at that aspect, my heart goes out to the suffering animals, and the ones who died. Tragic, senseless ... rest in peace little ones, it wasn't your fault.

[Laura's Babies]

Yea, where is her family? Didn't she have ANYONE to check on her to see how she was?

I expect most of the animals will be to sick and diseased to be adoptable. Just think of the trama of them having to live like that and how it has to effect them. Again, the innocent suffer. Their only fault was being born into a uncaring world.

[kitten645]

Has anyone watched "Hoarders" on A&E? Most of those people have a compulsion. They actually believe they are helping the animals. Most have family living WITH them that don't see the bigger problem. It's difficult to watch the program but I think it gives an insight into the problem. It is heartbreaking to think these poor animals die at the hands of a human that "thinks" they are helping. It's a mental health issue for sure.
RIP little ones. You are in a far better place.

[Pam]

Has anyone watched "Hoarders" on A&E? Most of those people have a compulsion. They actually believe they are helping the animals. Most have family living WITH them that don't see the bigger problem. It's difficult to watch the program but I think it gives an insight into the problem. It is heartbreaking to think these poor animals die at the hands of a human that "thinks" they are helping. It's a mental health issue for sure.
RIP little ones. You are in a far better place.

You know I did catch that once and have seen hoarders on Oprah. With the gathering of "things" I have noticed that sometimes other people live in the home and the hoarder often become quite nasty if they are asked to let things go. It sort of makes you not feel sorry for them when you see them becoming angry at people who only want to help.

When I have seen hoarding cases on TV where it involved animals the hoarder usually lives alone. I really have to wonder if they don't have someone (relative/friends) that could step in and help but, just remembering the show that I saw on A&E, I imagine it is the same thing. They probably get angry. I guess the only thing that can be done is to call Animal Control.

From what I have taken away from these programs it is not curable. The people who do get help often go right out and accumulate more. I guess this was the case with this woman. I am wondering why they weren't keeping a closer eye on her.

[Medusa]

This case doesn't make sense. If a warrant was issued for her arrest in '05, how is that, 4 years later, she was still there in that house? Someone clearly was not doing their job. My heart goes out to the poor animals who were forced to live in those squalid conditions. She had a choice; they did not. IMO, animal hoarders are different from those who hoard "things". They begin w/good intentions and things go horribly wrong and they either don't know how to remedy the situation because it's gotten so out of control or they're too ashamed to ask for help. Either way it's the animals who always pay in the end.

[catmandu]

I have a sad feeling that if the hoarder is poor and has nothing that the authorities can claim for heping them, that they lose interest vey quickly.
I have heard of cases near me where a poor old fellow is left alone to die, while an ex steel worker with money and a pension got help right away as the Cit put claims in on his pension, and sold his house as well to finance his move to a nursing facility.
It all comes down to money.
We are praying that as many Cats can survive as possible , and Our Awesome Angel Army will Welcome and Greet the Rest!!!

[Lizzie]

One of my cats, little Maeve, came from the home of a hoarder. The woman left her home to the shelter where I volunteer and when they went out to it they found 90 mainly unsocialized cats living there. Most of them had to go in the feral enclosure and the shelter extended the outside area to accomodate such an influx of cats, but the majority of them couldn't adjust. They refused to come inside, wouldn't eat, and would be found dead day after day. Maeve is one of only about a dozen who survived.

She is the cat who will run to the door to greet me when I come home and she adores having special one-on-one cuddle times with me. She 's a very shy and sweet cat and I sometimes visualize how she must have survived in that house, fighting her way to food and without attention.

I'll never forget how I adopted her. One of the shelter workers had taken me into the socialization room of their feral area to look at a black cat she really wanted me to take. Maeve (then called Eeyore because the shelter had to name 90 cats all at once and used Disney characters) watched me the whole time I was in the room. Every time I looked around she was sitting quietly in the middle of the floor looking right up into my face. It didn't matter how much time I spent with the other cat (and I did adopt Belle also) or that I didn't pay any attention to her, she never stopped focusing on me. I know you have all experienced this also, that look on a cat's face and in their whole demeanor that says "you've got to choose me, I have to get out of here." Finally, I turned to her and said "You are coming with me" and she was on my lap and into my arms in seconds. I could barely get her to go down on the floor again so that I could get a carrier.

[momcat]

The woman has been living without utilities since 2005

I think there's a misunderstanding here. In Pam's original thread she says the woman hasn't had any utilities (electric, gas, phone, water, etc) since 2005. It appears that no warrant was ever issued.

Hoarding is a tough disorder to understand. While the person's intentions start out as good regarding animals, the situation often goes horribly wrong.
It may start with a stray or two then others soon follow. If even one male and one female aren't spay/neutered, kittens are inevitable. As they grow it leads to inbreeding. At the same time other strays or ferals join the gang, more kittens. Saddest of all is none are properly cared for because there are just too many and the person becomes overwhelmed and in way over their head. But somehow the person just can't do the right thing and rehome them to a better and safer situation.

In many situations, the hoarder doesn't have family or anyone to help keep an eye on things. Perhaps these people will say having so many animals eases the loneliness, at least in their minds. Other hoarders flat out refuse any help to change their unhealthy and unsanitary lifestyle and simply don't see the problem.

This is especially sad when animals have to needlessly suffer and die. I only wish I knew what the solution to this problem is.

[Taz_Zoee]

The homeowner, Virginia Wetzl, 65, had a warrant out for her arrest for failing to show up in court on animal cruelty charges back in 2005. Now, she's to be charged again with multiple counts of animal cruelty in this case.

This is a quote from the actual article. And it also says in the article that she hasn't had utilities since her arrest back in 2005. So I'm guessing she stopped her utilities in the hopes that they wouldn't know she was living there. Although that seems crazy to me.

Anyway, I really hope at least some of these animals are okay and find good homes. It's all so sad.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

I can understand this. It's so hard to say no to hungry eyes! It's hard to feed one or two but say no to other hungry ones who come to you for help. (where would any of my babies be if I had said no to them?)

The woman may not have had any friends or family and the cats became that for her. Not all of us are lucky enough to have family or friends close by.

[Medusa]

Not all of us are lucky enough to have family or friends close by.

How true a statement! I'm in that position myself. No family nearby and friends live not too close by and many travel for work, so I often wonder how long it would be before someone found me if anything happened to me.

As for the utilities being turned off, she may have done that to keep from being discovered or she may not have the money to pay the bill. I visited a woman who has 27 cats and she couldn't afford to get her AC fixed and her stove and oven didn't work and she couldn't afford to get that fixed either. The smell was pretty bad in that house this summer because she kept all the windows closed because she doesn't want all of her neighbors to know how many cats she has. She can't cook for herself because her stove and oven don't work so I'm not sure what she eats. The cats were all healthy and well taken care of but she was thin as a rail and getting up in years. This is why I say "people first". I don't mean that we should be selfish and take care only of ourselves and let our furkids have second best. But I do mean that if we're not paying our bills, our mortgage/rent, having necessary repairs done, causing problems w/in the family, isolating ourselves because we don't want people to know how many cats we have, allowing cats to destroy our home, etc., then clearly the cats are in control of our lives. Sad but totally unnecessary.

[Don Juan's mom]

Glad to see Jim Gardner is still the anchorman at Channel 6. I suppose the story will be on "Animal Cops Philadelphia" in a few months.

[Pam]

Glad to see Jim Gardner is still the anchorman at Channel 6.

You must be a transplanted Philadelphian! Yes Jim Gardner is still going strong. I imagine he must be in his mid-late 60's now. I can't remember a time before Jim Gardner.

[cassiesmom]

from the Life Newspaper:

An elderly woman was removed from her home in the 1800 block of 57th Avenue after the Cicero Fire Department found more than 50 cats on the property.

About a dozen dead cats also were found in the backyard, according to a statement from Cicero town spokesman Ray Hanania.

Cicero's director of animal welfare said about 40 cats were taken from the house alive. Those cats will be taken to Waggin' Tails animal shelter at 1643 S. Laramie Ave., but they will have to undergo treatment and receive vaccinations before they can be adopted.

Waggin' Tails also will be working with other area animal shelters to help with cats that overwhelm their capacity.

The town is now working to relocate the resident into temporary shelter or housing with family members until the home can be brought back up to livable conditions.

Cicero Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Opalecky said the department would clean the property and attempt to recover costs from any insurance that might be available.

An employee for Cicero’s Water Department, said he discovered the situation about 10:30 a.m. today when he came to the house to shut off the resident’s water for a delinquent bill.

The smell was so bad, he feared the occupant may have died on the property.

“I’ve smelled rotting flesh once before,” the employee said. “I knew something was dead in there, but I didn’t know what.”

A neighbor who lives across the alley said conditions were so bad he would not let his kids play in the alley.

“We tried to help her, but she wouldn’t do anything,” the neighbor said. “At night, it was so bad that you could smell it for a block in all four directions.”