Delaware County has no separate hoarding ordinance, but Pennsylvania's animal-cruelty and neglect laws apply countywide. Failing to provide necessary food, water, shelter, and vet care is a summary or misdemeanor offense. Providence Animal Center conducts humane law enforcement across Delaware County.
Animal hoarding is addressed through Pennsylvania's statewide cruelty statutes (Title 18, 18 Pa.C.S. §5531 et seq., as strengthened by Libre's Law), which criminalize neglect — failing to provide necessary sustenance, potable water, clean and sanitary shelter, and veterinary care — and aggravated cruelty. These apply everywhere in Delaware County; the county itself does not enact a separate hoarding ordinance. Enforcement is carried out by municipal police and by humane society police officers: Providence Animal Center (formerly Delaware County SPCA) performs humane law enforcement and investigations throughout the county. Conditions typical of hoarding — overcrowding, filth, sick animals — are prosecuted as neglect or cruelty, and courts can order forfeiture of the animals.
Neglect is a summary offense; cruelty and aggravated cruelty are misdemeanors or felonies under 18 Pa.C.S. §5532–5534, with fines, jail, and court-ordered forfeiture of the animals.
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See how Delaware County's animal hoarding rules stack up against other locations.
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