Prosecuting Animal Hoarding

Animal hoarding cases represent a significant proportion of animal abuse and severe neglect cases. These cases present several unique challenges to those who investigate and prosecute animal cruelty. The issues that prosecutors must deal with can include: Elderly, often sympathetic defendants; Defendants with one or more serious mental disorders, often undiagnosed, that may or may not affect competency to stand trial; Defendants who may be associated with so-called “rescue” organizations, with or without appropriate IRS status, and who may have many outspoken supporters; The presence of other non-animal offenses, including fraud, theft, tax violations and offenses related to the presence of children or dependent adults in poor living conditions; and much more. This webinar will review each of these issues and examples of successful and unsuccessful prosecutions with recommendations for best practices for preventing and responding to hoarding issues at the community level.