Carmel's City Code has no standalone hoarding section, but the Hamilton County ordinance that applies inside the city defines 'Animal Hoarding' and enforces it through its cruelty, neglect and pet-limit provisions. Hoarding situations are also prosecutable under Indiana's criminal animal-cruelty statute, IC 35-46-3, which makes neglect or abandonment a Class A misdemeanor (a Level 6 felony on repeat offenses).
The applicable definition comes from Hamilton County Sec. 15-2.1-1-1, which defines 'Animal Hoarding' as (1) collecting animals and failing to provide adequate shelter and care, (2) collecting dead animals not properly disposed of, and/or (3) collecting, housing or harboring animals in 'filthy, insanitary conditions that constitute a health hazard' to the animals, the residents, or an adjacent property. While there is no separate numbered 'hoarding' offense, hoarding conduct is reached through several sections: Sec. 15-2.1-1-6 (Animal Cruelty, Neglect and Abandonment) makes it a violation to own or confine animals without supplying adequate shelter, food, water, space or veterinary care, with fines up to $2,500 per occurrence and possible court-ordered seizure of all pets, forfeiture of future ownership, counseling, or restitution. The household pet caps (no more than three dogs or three cats before kennel treatment, and a two-animal limit for prior offenders under Sec. 15-2.1-1-27) directly constrain accumulation. Unsanitary conditions are themselves defined and actionable. On top of the local rules, Indiana's criminal statute IC 35-46-3 applies citywide: IC 35-46-3-7 makes reckless, knowing or intentional abandonment or neglect of a vertebrate animal a Class A misdemeanor, elevated to a Level 6 felony with a prior unrelated conviction; IC 35-46-3-12 makes beating a vertebrate animal a Class A misdemeanor and torturing or mutilating one a Level 6 felony. The county ordinance expressly preserves parallel state prosecution (referencing IC 35-46-3-12).
Hoarding-related neglect under Sec. 15-2.1-1-6 may be fined up to $2,500 per occurrence; a court finding the section violated may order all owned pets seized and relinquished to the Humane Society for Hamilton County, bar future pet ownership in the county, and order counseling or restitution. Animals found to be victims of cruelty, neglect or abandonment may be impounded by any officer empowered by law. Prior offenders who exceed the two-animal cap violate Sec. 15-2.1-1-27 (up to $500). Separately, criminal charges under IC 35-46-3 can be filed — a Class A misdemeanor for neglect/abandonment, or a Level 6 felony for torture/mutilation or repeat offenses.
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