Animal hoarding: Enforcement from an official veterinarian's point of view

For a couple of years my office had to deal with a huge case of animal hoarding. A wealthy family used to actively collect animals and keep them all on too small pastures, without separating them according to sex, Euthanasia, even of most severely ill animals, was categorically rejected. In July of 2002 we confiscated 142 goats with extreme health problems (especially claw disorders and scabies). At the Darmstadt court we moved for a temporary prohibition of keeping animals according to 20 paragraph of the Law of Protection of Animals. This was juridically confirmed on 17.01.2003. As a result, the whole animals were pro forma transferred to another family member and taken to a neighbouring province. There the livestock increased to 250 horses, 400 pot-bellied pigs, plenty of cattle, sheep, goats, geese and chickens. As some animals were brought back to Hessen, we confiscated 80 horses and 180 pot-bellied pigs. During confiscation there were severe escalations caused by the animal hoarders. After the seized animals had been medically treated and nursed back to health they were given to new owners. Owing to severe health problems, 15 goats, 8 pigs and 4 horses had to be put to sleep, though.