700 cats, 150 dogs… They compulsively accumulate animals: investigation into Noah's syndrome

Isabelle first remembers the smell, "pestilential".

Then comes to mind this scene experienced on a gray day in February 2019. A resident of Noisy-le-Grand (Seine-Saint-Denis) deplores being overwhelmed by her animals.

Then Isabelle, volunteer of the association for the protection of cats "To each his own claw", goes to the shy 71-year-old pensioner.

“She told me that she had a dozen cats and dogs in her 35 m2.

But I wasn't expecting that… ”In the apartment,“ cloistered ”and“ never ventilated ”, there is a tangle of animals.

In the accommodation, the floor of which was covered with cushions and fabrics, cats lived locked in transport crates / DR  

“I come across a dozen kittens in a cage, cats tied to a radiator, others locked in crates, a dog in a sorry state.

Some were prostrate along the wall, all without water, without food… And everything was soaked in urine.

Isabelle, who has documented herself on the subject, immediately senses what is happening: in front of her, Noah's syndrome took shape.

A not-so-unusual disorder that causes a person, often isolated, to accumulate animals, like others hoard objects or garbage.

The retiree from Noisy-le-Grand is not, however, a Noah, a legendary hero who saved thousands of animals from the Flood.

The municipal police will discover in her home 30 weakened cats and dogs, when corpses were, according to the volunteer, "buried in flowerpots".

The septuagenarian was interned and her companions placed.

Today, Isabelle does not regret anything.

“It was no longer possible, she was in distress, just like the animals.

She refused any help, since she felt that she was taking good care of them.

"

"An infinity of profiles"

Who are these people with Noah syndrome?

How did they come to this point of no return?

The miscellaneous sections shed a sometimes harsh light on the stories of elderly, precarious and isolated people, when a dwelling teeming with animals is brought to light.

But in reality it turns out to be complex to paint a robot portrait of these compulsive animal lovers.

Especially since the diagnoses made on what is called in English "animal hoarding" (the accumulation of animals) are still rare.

The associations solicited enumerated us as many species held - from cats, dogs or chickens to the most puzzling tarantulas, ponies or goldfish "crammed in a sink" - as heterogeneous profiles.

Like this young woman living with 20 cats in 15 m2, this wealthy man who accumulated pink flamingos and other primates, or this notary of Aude, condemned for having neglected her forty cats, dogs and doves.

“There are an infinite number of profiles.

There is not a person suffering from this syndrome which is similar to another ", supports the neuro-psycho-geriatrician Jean Claude Montfort, specialist of the people" except standards ", who refutes the term of" disease "to evoke the Noah's syndrome.

The profiles mentioned are often female.

A Canadian study underlined, in 2008, that 83% of accumulators were women, often alone.

"A matter of human distress"

They all have one thing in common: denial, this tenacious conviction that they treat their animals as best as possible.

On July 28, the volunteers of the SPA of Besançon (Doubs) were able to see it.

With police officers and a bailiff, they interfered with Mr. D., a septuagenarian who they believe to be suffering from the syndrome.

About forty cats live together on site, while 30 felid remains lie in a freezer.

Sandra Majstorovic, in charge of investigations for the SPA, describes a house "unsanitary, where everything was upside down", with "cats in poor health, droppings everywhere and a ton of garbage bags.

For several years, the volunteers, contacted by neighbors, had been trying to provide assistance to the retiree.

In vain.

"I offered him food for the cats, to sterilize them ... But this gentleman is in total denial", laments Fabienne Chedeville, president of the Besançon SPA.

She said she was troubled by the profile of the owner, whose wife had to be taken care of when the police arrived, who found her confused.

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“We are at a crossroads.

It is not just a question of animal abuse, but also of human distress.

We can not also speak of voluntary mistreatment, these are people who think they love animals, but who love them badly ", judge Fabienne Chedeville, who claims to meet" more and more "this type of situation.

Post-traumatic syndrome?

For Dr Montfort, Noé is a derivative of Diogenes syndrome, which is characterized by an unbridled accumulation of objects.

Moreover, the two are often combined.

“This accumulation of animals seems absurd but, most of the time, what is absurd is post-traumatic, analyzes the specialist.

The cause of this syndrome lies in an event that has happened in the past.

If you manage to get through this person's door and they open up, you will have the chance to understand why such and such an animal is chosen.

"

This disorder, Arnaud Lhomme, responsible for investigations at the 30 Millions d'Amis foundation, knows it well.

"The more it goes, the more we have," he breathes.

Of the 700 cases he handled in the summer, a third would be linked to Noah.

And while they are not all of the same magnitude, the process is often similar.

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“It is mostly cats that we find, because they reproduce quickly, he describes. From four, we go to 40, then 120 and people saw nothing coming.

So they lose their way… ”In a short time, the situation can degenerate.

“Animals dump everywhere, people live in it.

There are odor nuisances, the person no longer dares to open their door, the hygiene services are notified and open a procedure for unsanitary conditions.

They need an electric shock… ”, recalls Arnaud Lhomme.

From 100 to 700 cats, 150 cockers ...

His foundation was then called to take care of the animals.

But the owner should not be neglected.

“There is an undeniable psychological problem.

Sometimes people are unable to tell me how many cats they had, or stop responding when shown a dead animal on their balcony.

They have lost the sense of reality, ”says the activist, remembering this retired woman with 700 felids.

He also mentions Mrs. L., “crazy about cockers”, who housed more than 150 of them. And this Parisian, living “in rags” in a 25 m2 of Montparnasse, in the middle of a hundred cats.

“We are competent for animals, not for humans, brocades Arnaud Lhomme.

So, often, we ask for support from social services.

Most of the time, the person goes to psychiatry ”.

"We must do something social," also insists the activist, who always prefers an intermediate solution to the total withdrawal of animals: "The person cannot live without them.

Six months later, she will have taken new ones so, when we can, we leave some sterilized to her.

"

This is what happened to Mr. D., near Besançon.

The veterinary services decided he could stay with his animals, but forced him to improve their hygiene and sterilize them.

He also benefits from psychological and social support.

"Animals remain property"

The associations, which have above all the protection of the animal in mind, do not always hear it that way and sometimes prefer that the owner be forced by justice never to own it again.

“The pronouncement of a ban on keeping animals is rare, we always try to negotiate with the person beforehand, so that he accepts their withdrawal and their placement.

The animals remain a property and we cannot do what we want ”, tempers the Major of police Christelle Cabot, referent in matters of animal mistreatment in the Gard, who recalls that there are several levels of condemnations.

Depending on their degree, animal abuse can be considered as contravention, with a fine of 750 euros, or tort (up to two years in prison and 30,000 euros fine).

In both cases, the withdrawal of animals can be decided.

With a high risk of relapse: according to the previously cited Canadian study, it is 50%.

The withdrawal of animals, "a death warrant"?

Sara, the president of the SPA in Lorient, fears this resumption of compulsive accumulation.

In her sights: a resident of Hennebont (Morbihan) whom she would like to see permanently prevented from keeping animals.

"We discovered 16 animals in her house, some of which were in such a bad condition that we no longer knew where the front of the back was," said Sara.

One of the dogs discovered in Morbihannaise, taken care of and treated by the SPA / DR  

The SPA became a civil party during the judgment of the retiree in May 2019. At the bar, the lawyer of the defendant had hammered that this 65-year-old woman, who "as soon as she crosses an animal, feels invested of the mission to save him ”,“ devoted most of his resources ”to feeding his animals, even living in his car, reports Ouest-France.

An expert psychiatrist indeed diagnosed him with Noah's syndrome.

Sentenced to six months in prison with a suspended sentence and an obligation of care, the retiree appealed.

Above all, she contests the ban on keeping animals for which she was also sentenced.

The process is delicate.

To permanently take away from these animal friends their reason for existing, for fear of causing irreparable damage.

“If a person has a vital need for an animal and their oxygen is cut off, they die.

Either it is the body that gives way, with a heart attack, or a stroke, or it is the mind, with decompensation and a risk of suicide, ”summarizes Dr. Jean-Claude Montfort.

At the hearing, the lawyer from Morbihannaise predicted it: forbidding him to have animals would mean "signing a death warrant".