How many pets is considering "hoarding?"

[MichelleCarmen]

Is there a specific number that equates with hoarding or is it when you have too many to take care of and then they become sickly that a person becomes classified as a "hoarder," and having a "problem?"

(just curious because I want to get another fish, but wonder if I''ve hit the loony point.

)

 

[MonkeyPie]

Lol MC, I think you can have a LOT of fish without being considered a hoarder!

I once heard on a tv show about hoarding that once you reach the point where the space is no longer safe to live in (meaning dirt, feces, ect.), then you are a hoarder. Because I once had 22 cats, but they all lived outside and were mostly wild (and too hard to catch!), so we weren''t considered hoarders.

 

[dragonfly411]

MC- I think fish are a pretty healthy option. I at one point had well over 150 guppies, plus 8 betta and a molly. They were split between 5 tanks in two rooms. My parents for some reason catered to this desire of mine to breed fish.... and yard lizards... I had 13 of those. Anyways, I''d say it would be hoarding if you lived in a one bedroom apartment with fifty tanks yes, but I highly doubt that is the case

 

[jewelerman]

I think that each state has numbers they go by.I know that in some areas you can have only so many pets.I think that a person should only have as many as they can care for and house properly.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Check this out:



In a 1999 study Dr. Patronek, professor Tufts University defined animal hoarders:

People who accumulate a large number of animals; fail to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care; and fail to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals, the environment, and their own health.

Hoarders justify their behavior with the view that the animals are surrogate children and that no one else can care for them. They harbor a fear that if they seek help the animals will be euthanized.

More recently, in a publication from the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, Animal Hoarding: Structuring interdisciplinary responses to help people, animals and communities at risk, Patronek and his cohorts list four key characteristics:

* Failure to provide minimal standards of sanitation, space, nutrition, and veterinary care for the animals
* Inability to recognize the effects of this failure on the welfare of the animals, human members of the household, and the environment
* Obsessive attempts to accumulate or maintain a collection of animals in the face of progressively deteriorating conditions
* Denial or minimization of problems and living conditions for people and animals

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:20:48 PM
Author: MonkeyPie
Lol MC, I think you can have a LOT of fish without being considered a hoarder!

I once heard on a tv show about hoarding that once you reach the point where the space is no longer safe to live in (meaning dirt, feces, ect.), then you are a hoarder. Because I once had 22 cats, but they all lived outside and were mostly wild (and too hard to catch!), so we weren''t considered hoarders.

Yikes, 22 cats. Similar thing as my DH when he was a kid. They lived at the end of a long dirt road and people use to dump their unwanted cats there. It was sad. . .like the ones you had, they all were wild so they weren''t actually "pets." lol

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:28:33 PM
Author: MC

Date: 10/5/2009 5:20:48 PM

Author: MonkeyPie

Lol MC, I think you can have a LOT of fish without being considered a hoarder!

I once heard on a tv show about hoarding that once you reach the point where the space is no longer safe to live in (meaning dirt, feces, ect.), then you are a hoarder. Because I once had 22 cats, but they all lived outside and were mostly wild (and too hard to catch!), so we weren''t considered hoarders.

Yikes, 22 cats. Similar thing as my DH when he was a kid. They lived at the end of a long dirt road and people use to dump their unwanted cats there. It was sad. . .like the ones you had, they all were wild so they weren''t actually ''pets.'' lol

That''s exactly what happened to us - one person dumped a mama kitty and her babies by our house, and they just kept breeding. We finally caught them all and got them fixed over time, and adopted them out.

 

[Steel]

If you look like this and have a propensity to throw poor defenceless cats at people then you might want to think about downsizing.

How much room can a fish take up anyhoo?

 

[purrfectpear]

Varies from county to county, but the majority say no more than 6 quadrapeds. Fish are another matter

 

[Mara]

i never thought of hoarding applying to animals but i guess it can be like anything else...!

when i think hoarding i think ''twinkies''...hehe.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:25:09 PM
Author: dragonfly411
MC- I think fish are a pretty healthy option. I at one point had well over 150 guppies, plus 8 betta and a molly. They were split between 5 tanks in two rooms. My parents for some reason catered to this desire of mine to breed fish.... and yard lizards... I had 13 of those. Anyways, I'd say it would be hoarding if you lived in a one bedroom apartment with fifty tanks yes, but I highly doubt that is the case

150 guppies!!! Wow, how funny. Guppies are great but that is a lot to tend to. I almost considered breeding them, but my husband would kill me if I bought all the gear necessary to house that many (all the little fry tanks and such).

lol

One of my tanks will be ready for more fish in about a month and DH knows that will one will be housing two more. It's just that I have another (empty) tank that I've kind of hidden. Will he care or won't he when he finds out? lol

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:03 PM
Author: Steel
If you look like this and have a propensity to throw poor defenceless cats at people then you might want to think about downsizing.

How much room can a fish take up anyhoo?

Depends upon the size of the tank and the types of fish. I have three Betta so they're a bit trickier to house. One is a femle though, so I was able to put three other fish of another variety with her without her going ballistic.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:20 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Varies from county to county, but the majority say no more than 6 quadrapeds. Fish are another matter

Yeah, fish are different. Guess when I begin having to stack the tanks on top of each other, there is a problem! Or if I squeeze 20 fish in a fish bowl.

 

[Camille]

Fish are different and quiet LOL!
My mother feed/takes all kinds of animals yep, she has a problem [4 cats, 2 dogs, 5 birds]LOL, she says I''m adopted [2 fish, our turtle died from old age last year] nothing alike.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 6:07:07 PM
Author: Camille
Fish are different and quiet LOL!
My mother feed/takes all kinds of animals yep, she has a problem [4 cats, 2 dogs, 5 birds]LOL, she says I''m adopted [2 fish, our turtle died from old age last year] nothing alike.

Yes, fish are SO quiet. My cat meows constantly. Last night he freaked (probably saw a squirrell outside) and knocked over a house plant and dirt spilled out everywhere!

What kinds of birds does your mom have? My mom use to have quite a few and they were SO noisy. Drove me nuts. Luckily she developed her passion after I moved out.

 

[HollyS]

If someone has more than they can adequately care for, they have too many. All domesticated animals (or other pet-types) need food, basic hygiene care (personal and habitat) but also human contact for play and love. When you lose the ability to provide all of these requirements, you have too many to care for.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:20 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Varies from county to county, but the majority say no more than 6 quadrapeds. Fish are another matter

Wow! We have four quadrapeds . . . three dogs and one horse. I''m two-thirds of the way to Crazy Lady status!

 

[HopeDream]

When I worked at a pet store the rule for fish was ''one gallon of water per inch of fish" anything more than that, and it''s overcrowding.
(any fish under an inch still counts as an inch)

As long as you can properly maintain your fish tanks though, have as many tanks as you want!

 

[4ever]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:03 PM
Author: Steel
If you look like this and have a propensity to throw poor defenceless cats at people then you might want to think about downsizing.

How much room can a fish take up anyhoo?

I once wondered how many cat''s before you become a crazy cat lady. My sister decided when then number of cats outnumbers the number of people living in the house. We have 4 cats and 5 people so I think we''re ok for now

I think fish are fine. Have as many as you want, it''s only really a ''problem'' when your house is so full of aquariums it takes 5mins to get through the maze to your kitchen or bathroom

 

[Camille]

Date: 10/5/2009 6:41:31 PM
Author: MC
Yes, fish are SO quiet. My cat meows constantly. Last night he freaked (probably saw a squirrell outside) and knocked over a house plant and dirt spilled out everywhere!
What kinds of birds does your mom have? My mom use to have quite a few and they were SO noisy. Drove me nuts. Luckily she developed her passion after I moved out.

Mom spends 6 mos in UK and 6 here. TG She takes the dogs with her, leaving the cats at @ friend''s care, my sister takes care of 4 canaries in her home and the cockatiel from hell [yep, stinky, loud and mean] stays @ mom''s alone. I do check on it twice a week but boy that thing demands entretainment

I''m so done with that "stinko"

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 10/5/2009 7:47:27 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:20 PM

Author: purrfectpear

Varies from county to county, but the majority say no more than 6 quadrapeds. Fish are another matter

Wow! We have four quadrapeds . . . three dogs and one horse. I''m two-thirds of the way to Crazy Lady status!

LOL. I''m proud of you, IG!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/5/2009 8:22:00 PM
Author: elledizzy5

Date: 10/5/2009 7:47:27 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl

Date: 10/5/2009 5:31:20 PM

Author: purrfectpear

Varies from county to county, but the majority say no more than 6 quadrapeds. Fish are another matter

Wow! We have four quadrapeds . . . three dogs and one horse. I''m two-thirds of the way to Crazy Lady status!

LOL. I''m proud of you, IG!

Hee hee heeeee! Now to add two more!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 7:51:16 PM
Author: HopeDream
As long as you can properly maintain your fish tanks though, have as many tanks as you want!

Yeah, I''m trying to follow that rule, but one is overstocked and the rest are understocked. lol! (due to working on tank cycling.) Cleaning tanks is A LOT of work. It takes me about an hour a day of tending to all of them to make sure their ammonia is negative, etc.!

 

[HopeDream]

MC you sound like a truly devoted aquarium keeper - I think you deserve more fishy friends!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/5/2009 11:54:57 PM
Author: HopeDream
MC you sound like a truly devoted aquarium keeper - I think you deserve more fishy friends!

Thanks. . . better go clean their tanks right now

 

[dragonfly411]

Date: 10/5/2009 5:32:51 PM
Author: MC

Date: 10/5/2009 5:25:09 PM

Author: dragonfly411

MC- I think fish are a pretty healthy option. I at one point had well over 150 guppies, plus 8 betta and a molly. They were split between 5 tanks in two rooms. My parents for some reason catered to this desire of mine to breed fish.... and yard lizards... I had 13 of those. Anyways, I''d say it would be hoarding if you lived in a one bedroom apartment with fifty tanks yes, but I highly doubt that is the case

150 guppies!!! Wow, how funny. Guppies are great but that is a lot to tend to. I almost considered breeding them, but my husband would kill me if I bought all the gear necessary to house that many (all the little fry tanks and such).


lol


One of my tanks will be ready for more fish in about a month and DH knows that will one will be housing two more. It''s just that I have another (empty) tank that I''ve kind of hidden. Will he care or won''t he when he finds out? lol

HA!!!! I''d just pop it out there with a fishy. What''s the worst he can do? He can''t make you get rid of it... fish is already paid for

.

I had a 10 gallon split in half that I used for my fry. One side housed the itties, and one side the half growns. Once they got large enough to defend themselves they went to either of two twenty gallons, or a ten gallon. The other tank was a three gallon with betta. They weren''t too hard to take care of, worst was draining the tanks once in a while to refresh the water and do a thorough cleaning. When I did that I had to use all the mixing bowls in the house to house each tank of fish hahahaha

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 10/6/2009 1:55:06 PM
Author: dragonfly411


HA!!!! I'd just pop it out there with a fishy. What's the worst he can do? He can't make you get rid of it... fish is already paid for

.

I had a 10 gallon split in half that I used for my fry. One side housed the itties, and one side the half growns. Once they got large enough to defend themselves they went to either of two twenty gallons, or a ten gallon. The other tank was a three gallon with betta. They weren't too hard to take care of, worst was draining the tanks once in a while to refresh the water and do a thorough cleaning. When I did that I had to use all the mixing bowls in the house to house each tank of fish hahahaha

One of my bettas is in a 3-gallon with a heater, filter, etc. On all the betta websites it's considered "abuse" to keep bettas in anything smaller than a 3-gallon. lol My second is in a 2-gallon with a heater (which some claim isn't acceptable size wise and b/c it doesn't have a filter - I've never told anyone on any betta group/forums about that setup because they ripe all the abusers to shreds). lol All the cost on all the gadgets sure add up! I think I've spent about $500 since July! eh

(and that is to keep 12 fish happy.) The third betta is in a big tank with other fish. My guppies are all males. lol

Your parents support is great. I am totally for my kids getting fish, but unfortunetly, they pretty much lost interest after I bought them each their own. Now, they call them "their" pets, but I do all the work. And, like you said, the worst is the water changes.

 

[Laila619]

I think once you get over 5 pets (fish don't count), that might be hoarding. Not saying it's bad per se, just saying that might start to be too many for a lot of people.

 

[MustangGal]

We have 3 cats and 1 dog, with 3 people in the house (if you count an 8 month old!), but I grew up with 3 cats, 4 dogs, about 10 horses, 2 tortises, and at least 1 fish tank. And then the hampsters, the lizard, and probably more I''ve forgotten... We were a very pet friendly family

Fish are a bit different. I had a friend growing up who''s family I would classify as "fish horders". That had at least 1-2 tanks in every room, and a pond in the back. I think you''re a long way from worrying!

 

[dragonfly411]

Yeah, I think that it really depends too on how well you keep them, and the situation. I don''t think we''re hoarders, we have two dogs at home, a hunting dog, and I have two horses and a pig. At any given time in my life my family has had between 2 and 5 dogs, 1 and 3 cats, 2-5 horses, any number of fish, hamsters, rabbits, lizards, I had a bearded dragon for a while, and a tarantula. All were well cared for, our houses never smelled, we never had problems with them getting fleas or anything.

SO''s mom currently has four horses, 12 dogs (all rescues), 2 cats, 6 snakes, a turtle, a gecko, an iguana, a goat, three ducks, five rescued roosters and I believe the daughter still has a hamster. Her house stays clean and spotless, all animals are happy, healthy and well cared for. My only problem is I feel the dogs can''t possibly get all the lovings they need, but the good news is they are at least not wandering streets, starved, neglected or abused (which was at one point the case for all of them) or reproducing for that matter. Two are VERY old and will probably be put down soon. Six are outdoor dogs, and love every moment of it. The others migrate in and out and are happy. There''s even one who was hit by a car and has a gimpy leg, and she is the happiest little dog. The ducks are free roam, the roosters have separated but large pens, the goat has his own pen, as does the pig. The horses have grass and hay and get ridden, well, all but one. He''s 36 and retired.

I don''t see anything wrong with a situation like hers if they are well cared for and happy and healthy and have basic requirements met. I mean... most farmers have that many animals or more... are they hoarders for having 20-30 cows, 6-10 or more horses, large numbers of dogs etc?