Each year 25,000 animals are caught up in hoarding cases in this country. Over 3,500 animal hoarders are investigated annually. Sadly, 70 percent of the cats rescued in hoarding situations are euthanized because of physical, emotional, and/or social damage or disorders. They can’t be rehabilitated.
What possesses someone to take in so many cats that they lose the capacity to care for them? How can a human who has a heart for cats harm cats so seriously that they suffer and often die? Just this year so far, 111 cats 
were rescued from a home in Cleveland. An Iowa man was unsuccessfully caring for 380 cats—authorities found many dead cats among them.
So what is the hoarding stereotype? According to experts, it’s a single, divorced, or widowed woman with an anxiety disorder and, most likely a love for cats. However there are men who get caught up in hoarding as well, and it happens in every state and in every country.
The ASPCA spells it out quite succinctly here with photos from hoarding situations:
https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/animal-hoarding Be aware. Be informed. You might be able to save innocent animals.
