action "hoarder"

This happened on my birthday, March 8, 2017, and it continues to this day, whatever date it is today.

First, a picture:

Do you know who a hoarder is? It`s a person who has a compulsive need to collect things and cannot give them up. It can be various decorations, packagings, worthless junk and garbage. It`s worse if a person collects pets. This happens especially with cats. It`s a psychiatric disorder, more precisely a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Such a person usually SUSPECTS that s/he has a problem, but would not admit it under no circumstances. It`s like with addictions - after all, which alcoholic admits that has a problem? They would even put their hand in the fire that they can handle it and have everything under control. But they doesn`t.

As I mentioned, on March 8, 2017, I was going on a trip with my partner. I met my neighbor in the entrance. I registered her, I knew she had a cat/cats, but I didn't know much more about her. She also registered I had cats and that I was somehow involved with cats.

She asked me if I could give her some advice (this word will sound totally absurd in a moment) - her cat gave birth yesterday and one of the male cats ate 2 kittens.

I was frozen directly on the spot.

1) How can a responsible owner just have a cat give birth?

2) ONE OF THE MALE CATS??? So how many males does she have? And females?

3) How could the male get to the pregnant cat/cat giving birth/new mother?

4) Kittens are eaten either by unneutered males or by any individuals if they are overcrowded and/or in inappropriate conditions...how can a person have an unneutered male cat and an unneutered/pregnant/birth giving cat in the same space? How many cats are there actually...? 🤨

I pushed the thoughts away because I was going on a trip and if I hadn't pushed them away, I would still be frozen there today. But a plan was already forming in my head because those animals clearly needed help. I couldn't continue to exist peacefully knowing that a few apartments away on my floor, cats were living in poor conditions.

With the promise of help/advice, I invited my neighbor over a few days later to investigate the situation and take action. I expected one of the worst cases of animal abuse and told myself that nothing could surprise me and I had to keep a completely cool head and rational thinking, turn off my emotions (how lucky I am to know that!), because otherwise I wouldn't solve anything. I suspected a hoarding there.

I was aware that the neighbor probably has a personality disorder/mental disorder and I chose my approach to her accordingly. I know that with such people you need to have an extreme patience, be kind and compassionate to them. You need to arm yourself with enormous insight and interest, solve things gently but consistently and you also need to have iron self-discipline. It's like playing an understanding parent who wants to help an abused child. Under no circumstances should you blame such a person, shout at them or swear at them, or threaten them with violence. Such a person most likely carry some trauma and not only their animals, but also they themselves are a victims. If I`d chosen emotions (specifically hatred towards the animal abuser), I would not have solved anything and the neighbor would have withdrawn even more, her animals would accumulate, some would`ve pay with their lives, and the situation would`ve worsened.