Editor, The Spotlight;
I am surprised at your concerns relating to an animal hoarding registry. The primary purpose of a registry is to alert those organizations finding homes for animals to those individuals with a history of hoarding, so they and the animals are not put in yet another compromised situation. Without the registry the hoarding individual can easily adopt new animals. Not only should there be a statewide registry, but a national one. Further, the registry should be public information as now it is just currently available to large scale adoption agencies ,not individuals who might be looking to rehome their pet. It was reported the individual in Schaticoke had been in three states with repeated instances of hoarding, all with the same sad result. How would you propose to prevent this? Individuals with these issues do not adhere to any court order in the first instance and traditionally these are county issued orders which are unenforceable when the person moves to a new county ,in state or out of state.
I too believe that individuals deserve a second chance. Perhaps if a mental health professional certifies the individual’s successful treatment completion, there is a specific limit on the number and type of animals and there is some period of home inspection, an individual could be removed from the registry. The main thing is for the hoarder to get treatment, prevent the suffering of animals and severe financial impact to the rescue organizations (which receive no taxpayer funding) all of which occur far too frequently today.
Jane Burgdorf
Latham
