Animal hoarding — keeping more animals than can be adequately cared for — is one of the most serious and complex companion animal welfare problems, requiring integrated animal and human welfare interventions.
Animal hoarding causes some of the most severe companion animal welfare suffering encountered by rescue organisations — animals living in filth, starving, untreated, and diseased in conditions that develop gradually as the hoarder's capacity to care is overwhelmed by accumulating animals. The welfare tragedy is compounded by the complexity of intervention: hoarders often genuinely believe they are helping their animals, are resistant to surrender, and without mental health treatment will reacquire animals rapidly following enforcement action. Effective response requires simultaneous attention to animal welfare through seizure and rehabilitation, and to the hoarder's mental health through treatment and ongoing support. Collaborative multi-agency protocols that treat hoarding as a welfare and public health crisis requiring sustained engagement rather than a one-time enforcement action achieve better outcomes for both animals and hoarders.