The moment 22 abandoned dogs realize they're being rescued is priceless

[hunter]

5. I think it's okay to be a little worried about the people who vanished.

This kind of animal hoarding is one of the more unpleasant forms of mental illness; people who are literally unable to see they've taken on more animals than they can care for.

A few years ago there was a woman who owned a farm near us who kept starving horses, pigs, goats, and other animals. For a few years she got away with telling people that the emaciated horses you could see from the road were older and ill, but then her fences started to fall apart, she couldn't keep up with repairs, frequently releasing starving goats and pigs that would destroy her neighbors' gardens, causing her to be investigated.

Maybe the worst was the youtube video I saw posted here on DU of the guy who allowed pet rats to interbreed with feral rats until there were hundreds of them that had literally chewed apart his entire house and everything he owned.

Not for the squeamish:

http://jezebel.com/5730682/hoarders-man-lives-with-thousands-of-uncaged-pet-rats