15 pets is not hording. It COULD be, if the animals were not well treated.
But there was a time, after my father had merged another pack into his, that he had 80 beagles. (Notably, it was because of the new "animal protection laws" in Louisville that he had to do this . . . the other pack was in danger of being seized, and most of those hounds would not have been easily adoptable. Likely, they would have been killed) But every hound was well fed, housed, cared for, and, as far as I could tell, just as happy as a clam.
At the same time there were also 3 or 4 spaniels, my mother's poodle, a terrier or two, a dachshund, and a mixed breed lab/greyhound that lived with the beagles. Not to mention the cats, and the horses, and a donkey, and a couple of peacocks. (I can't confirm that all these animals were present at the same time . . . they arrived, and died of old age throughout that period)
Now I can easily imagine an situation with an identical number of animals that WOULD be hording. But hording implies that the owner is overwhelmed by the care of the animals, and moreover, can't stop getting more.
Also, of course, AR people may argue that people are hording if their house is not spotless, if each animal is not cared for like a coddled family pet . . . but AR people insist many things that are just plain silly. Anyone who has seen real cases of hording should have no trouble distinguishing them from people who just have a lot of animals.
But there was a time, after my father had merged another pack into his, that he had 80 beagles. (Notably, it was because of the new "animal protection laws" in Louisville that he had to do this . . . the other pack was in danger of being seized, and most of those hounds would not have been easily adoptable. Likely, they would have been killed) But every hound was well fed, housed, cared for, and, as far as I could tell, just as happy as a clam.
At the same time there were also 3 or 4 spaniels, my mother's poodle, a terrier or two, a dachshund, and a mixed breed lab/greyhound that lived with the beagles. Not to mention the cats, and the horses, and a donkey, and a couple of peacocks. (I can't confirm that all these animals were present at the same time . . . they arrived, and died of old age throughout that period)
Now I can easily imagine an situation with an identical number of animals that WOULD be hording. But hording implies that the owner is overwhelmed by the care of the animals, and moreover, can't stop getting more.
Also, of course, AR people may argue that people are hording if their house is not spotless, if each animal is not cared for like a coddled family pet . . . but AR people insist many things that are just plain silly. Anyone who has seen real cases of hording should have no trouble distinguishing them from people who just have a lot of animals.