Understanding Animal Hoarding : Animal Hoarding : Animal Planet

The Cost of Animal Hoarding

By Chelsea Hedquist

It's one thing to discover an animal hoarder -- it's another to actually clean up the aftermath of such a discovery. Karen Cassiday, clinical director and owner of the Anxiety & Agoraphobia Treatment Center in Chicago, calls cleaning up the home of an animal hoarder a "difficult and hazardous task." It's also a costly one, as this type of cleanup doesn't come cheap.

Bring in the Biohazard Pros

The presence of feces, urine and rodent/insect infestations means that a standard maid or cleaning service can't tackle the job of cleaning up after an animal hoarder. Instead, licensed biohazard professionals are needed. These are serious cleaners -- the same kind that clean up crime scenes -- and they come complete with HAZMAT suits, masks, respirators and special gloves. They also come with the training necessary to confront some truly disgusting messes, as well as permits that allow them to deal with dead or dying animals, which are found at 80 percent of animal hoarding sites.

Biohazard cleanup crews come with a hefty price tag: rates start at $45 per hour for each cleaner. According to Cassiday, a cleanup job will usually take at least three cleaners a minimum of several days to two weeks to finish. So, it can cost upwards of $10,800. Some companies may offer a flat rate, ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 depending on the size of the home.

In certain cases, an exterminator specializing in rodents or insects will also have to take a turn in the cleanup process, adding anywhere from a couple hundred to more than a thousand dollars to the total cleanup costs.

Next: Post-cleanup Costs and More

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Animal Hoarding

Understanding Animal Hoarding

The Cost of Animal Hoarding

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