Margaret Sue Jamel needs to undergo psychogical counseling for her alleged animal hoarding

Animal hoarding, sometimes referred to as "collecting", continues to
struggle with public misconceptions. Members of the community and even
law enforcement often view hoarders to be "someone who meant well but
the situation got out of hand," conjuring images of the sweet cat lady
down the street.

While their intentions may indeed have been good, the reality of
hoarding is far from sweet, and is often quite horrific. Hoarders often
have hundreds of animals in their home, living in filth and without
veterinary care. It is not uncommon to discover several hundred animals
in various states of neglect at one location. It is also very common to
find vast collections of other junk and garbage on the premises, as
well as many layers of feces throughout the home.

In the majority of hoarding cases, the hoarder firmly believes not
only that they have done nothing wrong, but that the animals cannot
survive without their "care". In many instances, hoarders will even be
reluctant to relinquish the decomposing corpses of animals that died.
Dead animals are frequently found in the freezer or refrigerator, or
even laying around the house, embedded in the carpeting, etc. At times,
dead animals have been left in the home so long that they have become
mummified.

Hoarders may feel that they "love" animals, but they can be blind to
the fact that they are not caring for them responsibly even in the face
of starvation and death. Hoarders are usually unable to bear the
thought of euthanasia, but vast numbers of animals are "saved" only to
languish in a squalid, crowded environment where they suffer from
malnourishment, illness, inactivity, poor ventilation, and lack of
human companionship. Dogs and cats have been found kept in cages,
crates, hutches, and even kitchen cabinets, some even being allowed to
breed. Hoarders often cannot afford to pay for all the spaying and
neutering (not to mention the routine veterinary care) needed for so
many animals, so their collection grows until the filth, stench, and
noise attract the attention of neighbors or health, sanitation, or
humane officials. In some situations, the homes of animal hoarders are
so run-down and filthy that the local Department of Health actually
orders their homes razed to the ground.

Despite a correlation to the psychological condition of Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD), there is no clinical diagnosis at this
point. More research is needed. Gary Patronek, director of the Center
for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University, states "We'd like to
study it more," he says. "Is it a syndrome in and of itself? Probably
not. But [one day] we might like it to be included as a warning sign
[in psychological evaluation]."

According to the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, the following criteria are used to define animal hoarding:

1. More than the typical number of companion animals
   
   
2. Inability
   to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter,
   and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation,
   illness, and death
   
   
3. Denial of the inability to
   provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the
   animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling