Animal Hoarding

One day last week, a coworker of mine accused me of being an animal hoarder.  I was a bit shocked and offended by the accusation.

I know we have a lot of animals.  I am aware of that.  But we don’t have an unmanageable amount of them.  A farm has animals, does it not? 

I love animals, always have.  I think it would be one thing to have taken in these animals but not taken care of them (reminder: these two kittens found US. Not vice versa.)  For instance, not getting them fixed.  We definitely DO NOT want our population of cats to get any larger!  So, we are shelling out a few hundred dollars to get them fixed and vaccinated.  We know that if we want to have ONLY 4 cats, this is something we have to do.  We had a home (farm) for the two kittens, but Todd and I fell in love with them.  To this day, we still adore the kittens.  They are the most lovable creatures and we have not regretted our decision to keep them.  But we have taken every measure to lower the possibility of more of them.   

We had a kitten find us that was named Gracie.  We found a home for her with a friend of mine’s mother in Buffalo, NY. 

Logan, our almost 2 year old female cat was a stray that was severely sick when we got her.  She had an awful infection on her chest and our neighbors would not take her to the vet.  So, we agreed to take her in, took her to the vet, and about $500 later, she was fixed and vaccinated and the infection is gone.  We barely see Logan.  She is wild, but she is OUR responsibility.

Squiggy was a “gift” from my mother.  She now knows not to give anyone a pet as a gift.  But she meant well, and I love my pigger. 

Lana was to keep Squiggy busy.  Funny enough, she beats up on that poor pig.  She has beat him into submission.  It’s cute watching them run around together, but I think piggy was happy as a single piggy (even though pigs are supposed to be social animals.)  None-the-less, Lana is part of the family.  There is no giving her back.

And last, but not least, we are planning on 3 chicks. 

So, we are at:

4 cats

1 pot bellied pig

1 puppy

3 chicks (if we get them before they are sold out.)

If THAT is hoarding, then I am PROUD to be a hoarder.  All of our animals are fed, warm, loved, and time is spent with them EVERY DAY.  Not once have they gone without a meal or affection.  No, I am not able to spend 5 hours a day with each of them, but I am not able to do that with my own husband at this point.  Weekends are special times that they get extra love and affection.