And in another news item that makes me deeply thankful that my mother hoards innocuous things like books, this Louisiana couple just got sentenced to jail for hoarding snakes. Seriously? Snakes? Not that I condone animal hoarding or anything, but I could at least kind of see how you could get started hoarding something like puppies. Puppies are cute. Plus, they don't typically harbor a desire to kill and eat you while you're sleeping.
Granted, the news coverage makes it sound somewhat unlikely that these people are genuinely hoarders; it sounds more like they were just trying to make a (neglectful, unethical) buck by illegally breeding snakes. Disturbingly, though, they presented themselves as an animal rescue organization. This, apparently, isn't uncommon amongst animal hoarders, who will continue to adopt animals long after they've stopped having the funding or wherewithal to care for them (much like this Ohio woman, who hoarded dogs, cats, snakes, fish, and a horse). The lack of insight amongst animal hoarders is mind-boggling. Long after they have begun keeping animals in absolutely deplorable, cruel conditions, they continue to believe that they are saving and caring for them.
I haven't yet come across a news report of an animal hoarder with children in the home, but I'm sure it happens. And just thinking about it makes me truly thankful for small mercies. Growing up in a hoarded home was heartbreakingly difficult at times, but at no point was I sharing space with 100 snakes. Ick. So it really, really, really could have been worse.
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