when enough is enough

[fowler_chick]

ok sorry need to vent, how do you kindly tell some that there house horrably smells! they have over 20 cats and i think 6 dog's , the cats are indoor out door, but the dogs barley go out in the winter , none are ever vetted, they live on a 3 or 4 acre plot with 4 horses penned up in every small areas. again they are not vetted . and a few extrea aminals to boot, they are timmed about there horses who aften tend to get out and are hard to catch because they are not halter trained, one mare looks like she has founder but she claims she hasn't and has no money to call a black smith...i am so cought between a rock on this one because she is a family member (not related to me TG)

 

[Randy]

I know what you mean. I was at this persons house one time and something was said about the animals in thier house (only two large dogs and two tom cats) and she was bragging about there being no smell. At the time I was sitting in a chair in the corner with my eyes watering from the stench of tom cats.

I really wanted to say something but I was polite and kept my mouth shut. I think when you are around an odor all the time you stop smelling it.

 

[Andi]

That's a tough spot to be in. If the person wasn't related I'd suggest just calling animal control or the sheriff. Seeing it is family I'd recommend looking into how you can help. I'm guessing this is a classic case of animal lover snowballing. They love animals and want to not see them get put down or go to a home that may treat them even worse that what they are capable of providing. They are likely quite passionate about all of them.

Maybe try striking up a conversation about how they got to the point that they are in. Let them know that their home smells unhealthy. I'm sure they are aware of it. See if the local vet has funding to help out animals from low income homes. Spaying and neutering is a start to limiting the population explosion. There may be want ads from people who are looking for pets that she can offer.

What ever you do (and you really need to do something, for this person and the animals) is assure them that you are wanting to help out. Its got to be a stressful situation for them to be in. The worse the animal situation gets the more they get embarrassed (to let anyone over and the smell that may be on their cloths) and retreat from society. They begin feeling isolated and not sure what to do so they do nothing until nature takes care of it, which ends up being the animals suffering to death.

There's also the possibility that depression is wrapped into this also. Be thoughtful. This may be an overwhelming experience. Don't let an angry response throw you off. Its fear.

Best of luck.

 

[redhen]

honestly..i would'nt care how her house smells. (i know..i know..but..)Thats not the important issue..the issue is the care (or lack of care) the animals are getting...
i'd say that i'd be willing to help you re-home some of your animals because it seems like you are over whelmed with them and how expensive their care can be...etc..

 

[WriterofWords]

I lost a good friend over something similar. She has 18 cats, they are all fixed but they tend to pee anywhere and you know the kitty smell. I would go to her house, my eyes would water, I tried not to breath, and I would sit in the very edge of the furniture because it was upholstered in cat hair. She scrubbed her house top to bottom every weekend, took wonderful care of her hardwood floors, cleaned the furniture once a week but it was covered again within the day. I finally had to tell her I just couldn't keep going to her house that the smell was so overpowering I couldn't breath. She insisted her house was spotless and didn't smell that any smell I smelled had to come with me. I felt bad about losing a friend, and I know that since she lives with it she was used to it. I don't know how she could leave for trainings for a week, stay in clean and odor free apartments and then go back and NOT smell her own house. She met a wonderful man that she lost for the same reason, he couldn't stand the smell.
I don't know what advice to give you there, if you value the person you might not want to say anything because chances are they won't take it well and you will lose them. If the animals are in danger or unhealthy you need to make a report concerning them and tell the animal control that it is a family member and you wish to remain anonymous.

 

[Whispering Winds]

When we bought out house 31 years ago, the owner had 35 dogs, 3 horses, rabbits, cats, ducks, and I don't know what else. It was a disaster area, and she told me that when she was a kid her mom wouldn't let her have animals. They were starved because feeding 35 dogs (big ole coon hound types) was $$ back then, and no vet care whatsoever. I wonder if that is not is wrong with these people who do this with animals. . .its some type of mental thing I think. . .who would want a lot of animals they can't take care of? I spend a lot every month on food for our gang, but I do without other things in order to do it. Sad. Feel bad for the animals. I would do something, and if they are in denial that bad, I don't think I would really worry about them being hurt or mad.

 

[LizFM]

This is a really good website with a page on how hoarding behavior develops:

http://www.animalhoarding.com/

Having that many cats stresses the cats too...no matter how often you clean. Many cats just don't like sharing litter boxes even if they are cleaned frequently (it's like how we feel about using an unflushed toilet). I want to rescue all the cats and kittens I see and I have to really stop myself sometimes. I can't cause a poor quality of life for the ones I already have, trying to rescue others.

 

[Andi]

Quote:
Excellent!

 

[fowler_chick]

that is a Excellent site!, we are abput the only people who go over there, (fewer and fewer visits now) but yes the small is horific. it's really knocks you down right by the door....i have already talked to the sheriff about but yet nothing has been done, they wont because of my husbands line and her's they did have some service tech in once to figure out a t.v problem and the men refused to come in wth all the animal poop behind the t.v......thank good they never sow the kittly little or the back room.....there is always a slight odder around her because of her animals and yes co-workers have complained about it . when ever i ment any thing about it my husband thinks i hate her and just want to rag on her.......not true....but trying to get the point across to her is imposable....my biggest concern is ecolie and my kids..

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Honestly...i would not bring my kids there..no way..

You are VERY right to be afraid of ecoli and MORE...i just saw a show on somethng like this..these people were letting their dogs just poop all over their house..and under their beds.....they swabbed the persons house to test for germs..etc.. ...let me tell you..NASTY UNSAFE stuff was living in that house..! Yup..keep those kiddos outta that house..