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Parents' Guide to

Confessions: Animal Hoarding

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Hazardous, unhealthy homes aren't fit for pets -- or kids.

TV Animal Planet Reality TV 2010
Confessions: Animal Hoarding Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 12+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Common critic
Common critic Parent of 11 and 13-year-old
January 8, 2011
age 11+
This review about this show caught my attention.how is it not for kids?!in some ways it is educational talking about mental illnesses and OCD.my daughter watches this show and I don't mind it one bit
Victorianna
Victorianna Parent of 8-year-old
December 15, 2010
age 14+

An intense, complex show not suitable for children

This is a very depressing show. It's true that these conditions exist, but I think too intense for young children and even some young teens. Also, I have a real problem in hearing "we're going to find these animals good homes"...which is probably often a blatant lie, and I don't think we should lie to children. There are very difficult, complex questions here that I'm not sure that kids under about 14 are able to even comprehend and certainly can't do much about: the delicate issues of keeping an animal alive in unsanitary conditions vs. taking that animal to the pound where it will probably be put to sleep, as well as issues about the rights of the individual, and how our view of pets has changed in the past 100 years, as well as the topic of what is or isn't mental illness.
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What's the Story?

Reclusive animal hoarders come out of the closet in CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING, a docuseries about toxic, uninhabitable homes with too many pets. Each episode profiles two different pet owners, following them through the often-painful process of cleaning up their lives and, occasionally, giving up their animals. But instead of focusing on the owners' recovery, the series tends to lean on footage of the hoarders co-habitating with their pets in unhealthy environments.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (5 ):

Much like the similarly themed Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive, Confessions: Animal Hoarding uses shock value -- and morbid fascination -- to suck you in. It's a lot like a car crash you can't look away from, but it ups the ante by mixing in cute animals and their confounding owners, who typically fail to see the error of their ways. Owners like Don, for example, whose wife can no longer live in their home because some 30 cats treat the place like a giant litter box, pushing the house's blistering ammonia levels well into the toxic range.

While both Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive extend a hand to their struggling subjects by offering the services of professional organizers, Confessions doesn't make the same kind of effort. In at least one episode, it was up to concerned family members to find a therapist who could help them stage an intervention for their dog-loving relative, Bonnie, whose home had literally become a dumping ground. And the aforementioned Don skipped therapy altogether in favor of turning himself in to animal control. With that type of approach, it's tough to say whether the experience will truly change anyone.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about mental illness and the types of traumatic events that could trigger someone to start hoarding animals. What's the difference between being a pet lover and a pet hoarder? At what point does having a lot of pets become a hazard?

  • Is this show documenting the hoarders' behavior or sensationalizing it -- and what's the difference? Does the show take any steps to ensure lasting change in the hoarders' lives?

  • Why would a pet hoarder agree to expose their behavior on camera? Is it helpful or harmful for them to appear on a show like this one?

TV Details

  • Premiere date: July 21, 2010
  • Network: Animal Planet
  • Genre: Reality TV
  • TV rating: TV-PG
  • Last updated: November 5, 2022

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