Mistakes, I've made a few, but then again, too few to mention... how about some excuses instead?

One of the features of hoarding cases that is hard to wrap my mind around is the apparent disconnect between the condition of the animals and the perception of the hoarder.

I do know that one of the basic precepts of storytelling is that no one sees themselves as a villain. This is the same idea expressed by Dr. Gary Patronek of the Animal Hoarding Consortium in his article, The role of excuses in animal hoarding

"Hoarders rarely if even admit to intentionally harming an
animal or intentionally failing to provide proper care, and rarely
acknowledge their own intentional actions and decisions that may have
contributed to the situation. This includes their conscious acquisition,
sometimes with great effort and subterfuge, to acquire even more animals
as the situation around them deteriorates."

This tries to explain behavior that seems utterly irrational - why go on breeding or buying horses at auction when there are no resources to support them and you are under intense scrutiny.

Dr. Patronek enumerates the many tactics hoarders use to justify their behavior to others and to themselves. One category in particular identified some familiar refrains:

"Reframing the bad performanceâ€"these excuses share the common
theme of diminishing the negativity of the performance.

• â€Å"See no evil excuses� such as â€Å"Its really not so bad�, â€Å"I didn’t notice
the animals were sick�, â€Å"It just happened yesterday�
• Attempts to manipulate the standards so that the observed
behavior does not seem to fall so far from the mark. One way to do
this is to question the clarity of the standards, or to claim that there
is no way to judge the situation. If standards cannot be attacked for
lack of clarity or cannot be lowered, another strategy is to try to
change them.
• Another strategy is to embed the bad act into another, more
"virtuous one. In hoarding situations, this frequently involves
claiming that they were caring for animals no one else would help
or trying to save the animals from death.
• A final method of reframing is discrediting sources of negative
feedback. This can be done by alleging that any evaluative
instrument was too picky, or to try to discredit the individual or
agency doing the evaluation. Hoarders frequently claim that
humane societies, other officials, and even family members have
vendettas against them. "

Once someone has invested so much energy in a strategy of deception, it is like a ball rolling downhill that they cannot let go of without upsetting their whole identity. That is one reason hoarders are hard to help or stop. It may in the end be far easier to rehab their victims.

That's the end of Lecture #2. Now on to the fun stuff.

Katie Merwick will be appearing at Emerald Downs on Saturday with three of the horses from Second Chance Ranch to celebrate the launching of the Prodigious Fund. It also happens to be Derby day.