Hey so because people seem confused by this: hoarding is not the same thing as "having a lot of something."

Hoarding is a specific set of behaviors, usually a symptom of trauma and/or other mental illnesses

When a person exhibits hoarding behaviors, they tend to focus primarily on the acquisition of an object or animal. Once acquired, little care is given to the maintenance of the animal/object/home. Animal hoarders especially rarely actually care for the animals they hoard

Hoarding is an awful, awful aspect of various mental illnesses and can cause health issues and even death for the hoarder and, in the case of animal hoarders, the animals they acquire.

My brother served as a volunteer firefighter and was involved in several hoarding cases

He says they were the worst things he's seen, and he worked for three days without stopping during Hurricane Sandy :/

Anyway, here are some signs a person is hoarding animals:

-The animals do not receive adequate--or any!--veterinary care
-The animals are dirty/unkempt/matted/otherwise neglected
-The animals are starving
-There's inadequate shelter available for the animals
-The animals are severely ill
-The hoarder will not part w/any of the animals

Here are signs someone is NOT hoarding animals, even if they may have a lot of animals; the animals:

-receive appropriate vet care
-are clean & (depending on species) well-socialized & friendly
-are kept appropriately, with adequate shelter
-are, if appropriate, adopted out

There are people out there who keep smaller animals--reptiles, for instance--and may have hundreds in their homes and you'd literally never know because they're responsible & attentive to their pets' needs.

I have been accused (on Twitter, never in real life lol) of hoarding cats despite frequently providing evidence of my home's cleanliness and the massive amount of time & money I spend on vet care for the cats. Also! If possible, my foster cats are adopted out to forever homes!

Having a lot of something is not hoarding. A person can have a lot of, idk, FunkoPops (like that AITA dude) BUT if FunkoPop Man keeps his collection displayed neatly & if he acquires FunkoPops because he likes FunkoPops, not just b/c he Needs to acquire things, he's not a hoarder

So look, you not only make people feel like shit when you call them a hoarder for whatever reason, you also downplay a very severe sign of mental illness that ought to be treated with compassion & care rather than mockery

Anyway please learn the difference between hoarding and having a lot of something so you don't end up looking like a spiteful dingus on social media. Thanks.