Children of Hoarders

Animal hoarding gets a lot of media exposure. However, it's not often you hear about the children who live in those environments with the animals. As the moderator of various support groups for adult children of hoarders over the last couple of years, I have met children whose parents WERE those media stories. Their shame is immense, the public scorn and judgement ruthless. It has changed the course of their lives.

I've met children who went to school smelling like the animal urine and were subject to teasing and bullying. I've met children who have secretly killed some of the animals overtaking their homes, to try and "fix" the problem, angry at the animals for coming "first."

When you see the sensational media items, please don't forget about the children who may live in these environments too, and help to see that they get any counseling/support they need.
-Donna Austin, webmaster

This site does not focus on the condition of hoarding animals, but we'd like to direct you to other sites that do:

Animal Hoarding News Only

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC)

News from HARC

Humane Society of United States