Customer Reviews

Inside Animal Hoarding: The Case of Barbara Erickson and her 552 Dogs (New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond)

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I've seen accounts in Animal Planet's "Animal Cops" TV programs that show animals rescued from hoarders. What one sees is horrific: cats, dogs, birds, other animals kept in mind-boggling conditions: Animals being starved in filthy conditions with chronic disease that never get treated, animals that never get to experience the comfort and joy of loving human hands, animals forced to fend for themselves, sometimes resorting to canibalism. These shows -- and statistics -- report that most animals (particularly cats) rescued from hoarders have to be euthanized because of extreme poor health and/or lack of socialization.

I recently adopted a Siamese cat who had been rescued from a hoarding situation. He reportedly arrived at the shelter covered with fleas and external parasites; he was frightened and shaking. With the tender loving care of people from the Siamese Cat Rescue Center, the fleas are gone; he is healthy and took the first steps in learning to trust and love human beings. Now in his forever home with me, he has blossomed into a cuddling purr-baby. He is very friendly with my one other cat. He was one of the fortunate victims of hoarding; he didn't have to be euthanized.

I acquired this book; I wanted to find out the mind-set of a person who would claim to "love" her "babies" and yet keep them in conditions that resemble a torture-camp for animals. The book is in two parts, one a novella-like account of a particular hoarder, Barbara Erickson; the other part a generalized study of the phenomenon of animal hoarding. This book chilled me to the bone.

Barbara Erickson hoarded dogs. She kept more than 500 dogs in a small house: crowded, filthy, underfed, unsocialized, ungroomed, rarely taken to a vet; when rescuers finally arrived, half-eaten puppies were found. She claimed that these were her "babies" and that she "loved" them; she expressed no dismay at the terrible conditions that the dogs had been forced to live in. She was tried and convicted of several counts of animal cruelty (all misdemeanors). She spent a few weeks in jail and was sentenced to probation.

The book gives a straightforward account of the fate of the rescued dogs. There are some detailed descriptions: One dog that Mrs. Erickson named "Storm Born" had a badly deformed jaw and suffered other medical conditions; another dog, "Bingo" constantly launched himself against the wires of his cage. Both of these dogs, along with over 100 others had to be euthanized because of their deformities, poor health and/or having literally been driven insane by the conditions. The remainder (over 400) were saved and were adopted out to "special needs" homes; most reportedly continued to show signs of the trauma that they had suffered.

The book also outlines community problems brought on by animal hoarding. Unless strict guidelines are imposed and followed by law enforcement/mental health professionals, the recidivism rate is 100%. There are cases where animal control officers seize animals and the hoarder packs up, moves and acquires more animals; Barbara Erickson followed this plan more than once. Large scale seizures and rescues consume scarce resources; prosecution is very difficult. Many communities attempt to ignore the hoarding problem in the hope that it will just "go away" i.e. the hoarder will take her/his animals and move somewhere else. There is also a problem with perception: the idea that hoarders suffers from mental illnesses and thus truly aren't criminally responsible. Many people are familiar with stories of the "crazy cat (or dog) lady" and don't face the truth that this person, who "loves too much" is cruelly mistreating helpless animals.

This book delves into myths and uncovers painful truths. Highly recommended.

I am fascinated with the concept of hoarding in general and as it pertains to animals in particular. It's difficult to get your mind around the idea that the hoarder can't actually "see" what they are doing. This book is very helpful in coming to terms with that concept. It also helps to understand that our societal attitude toward animal hoarding is irresponsible at best and enabling at worst. I found this little window into the world of Barbara Erickson to be interesting and well presented.

For anyone interested in learning more about animal hoarding, this book is a must read! Our entire class read it and rated it as best assignment of the year. While disturbing, it gives the reader a full understanding of the problem of animal hoarding. An unusual and interesting book packed full of info re:a complex and perplexing problem.

As the President of 2nd Chance Animal Shelter, the organization that handled the rescue of the Barbara Erickson dogs, I was involved in this rescue from beginning to end. After her many interviews with the participants in this rescue, including Barbara Erickson, Ms. Killeen has done an admirable job of showing the huge dichotomy between what the rescuers saw and experienced and what Barbara Erickson saw and experienced. Barbara Erickson truly believed that those dogs were her "babies" and she was giving them wonderful care, and the tragic result shows us that this is a mental illness for sure.

I also enjoyed the perspective that Dr. Arluke brought to the book, allowing us to better understand the psychology of this illness.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a better understanding of this devastating condition - devastating to the animals, devastating to the rescuers, and also devastating to the person with the condition known as "hoarding".

Celeste Killeen's telling of the story of Barbara Erickson is compelling and devastating at the same time. Arnold Arluke's section of the book describes the best information available at this time on animal hoarding psychology and behavior as well as a sociological perspective on this severe behavior. A look at the role of law enforcement is included.
All of this has helped me to continue to pursue a hoarding problem in my own community. It helped me to recognize how much worse our local case could be. It also encouraged me to seek more education on animal hoarding and consider changes in our local and state laws. The book is an excellent resource.

This case study is a great way to learn about animal hoarding and how we can help by being aware! The authors have thoroughly explored the make-up of an animal hoarder and the role that the community unknowingly plays in enabling this behavior...and they offer some solutions.

I enjoyed this novel-like research into the life of an animal hoarder. The first part tells the story of 500 dogs kept in the most cruel environment imaginable by a woman who "loved" them. The book delves into Barbara Erickson's life and provides insite as to how she evolved into the person she is.

The second portion of the book put things in perspective through a discussion of the latest research on animal hoarders---a dryer approach, but necessary to provide a complete picture of this illness.

Overall, a great read and I recommend it highly.

i really enjoyed reading this book except for the fact that it felt like i was reading two books, because there are two authors to this book.

i mostly enjoyed the chapters that were "current time" written by Celeste Killeen. if the entire book was just her i would have loved this novel.

i feel that the chapters written by Arnold Arluke were very out of place. they were more so of the past and rarely added anything.

i truly believe that each individual author should have wrote their own books because their writing styles are just so different that they honestly clashed.

What struck me most about this case study book was Killeen's meticulous portrayal of animal hoarding without infusing her own version version of the truth, letting the reader draw her own conclusions. This wisdom is not always followed in journalistic reporting. The second part of the book, Arluke's discussion, is edifying and helps to educate the reader about animal hoarding in general, beyond what the case study can do.

This book reads more like a novel than the real story of an actual case of animal hoarding.

In the preface, the author admits to a type of fill-in-the-blanks format because of a lack of factual evidence; but the amount of information that was "Created" took away from the real story.

I read this book to find out the story behind the Erickson's, how they came to accumulate this number of animals, etc. What I got was too much manufactured information.

I have not read the book, and since I was there with dozens of volunteers to care for the animals, I have no need or desire to read the book. This was Barbara Erickson's second hoarding case; the first one being in Idaho a few years before the Oregon case. I am grateful to the State of Oregon and Malheur County for being smart enough to put and end to Erickson's cruel treatment of the animals, and hope the efforts by a group in Idaho will finally be able to make animal cruelty a felony in the State of Idaho. The animals were in horrid condition. I can still see the face of one of the dogs who obviously had it's jaw broken and had healed in such a grotesque way that it was hard to imagine how the poor thing managed to eat enough to stay alive. On top of the mangled jaw, she was also blind. She was put to sleep with dozens and dozens of other dogs. That rescue was the most horrible heart wrenching thing I have ever gone through, and I hope none of you reading this book ever have to live it.