North Dallas Hoarders: With 46 Animals Trapped in a Feces-Filled Home, How Could Neighbors Not Notice?

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(Photo: Dallasnews.com)

Stories like this give my gag reflex a workout. We at CandysDirt.com are big fans of animals, so when we hear about this kind of thing our hearts just break.

Word comes from crackerjack reporter Eric Nicholson that Dallas Animal Services have seized 46 dogs and cats from a feces-filled North Dallas home. The animals were in various states of distress. Sounds like a classic case of animal hoarding to me.

Such large-scale animal hoarding cases don’t happen every day in Dallas, but they’re not exactly rare either. In general, [Dallas Animal Services manager Jody] Jones says, the owners’ intent isn’t typically criminal, even if their actions are. “There’s no doubt that these people loved their pets and thought they were doing the right thing by them, but sometimes people’s heart can overwhelm their ability to provide for the care and maintenance, not only for the animals but the home and the facility around them.”

When we were renting in Junius Heights, we reported a neighbor for hoarding cats. Really, if you came within 10 yards of her home you couldn’t help but smell the situation. When we saw crate after crate leaving the house, and our neighbor on the front drive in her caftan, absolutely beside herself, we still knew that we did the right thing.

So here’s what I’m wondering: Why did it take so long for neighbors to do the right thing and help those poor animals living in squalor? Did they not know? Could they not smell the layers of feces? Also, what do hoarders do to property values? And how do you sell a home that’s been damaged by hoarding (some smells never come out, folks!)?

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

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