A charge of animal-hoarding against a person who has not been diagnosed as a hoarder by a psychiatrist or psychologist is seriously injurious to that person's reputation in the community if the charge is made in the media.

Hoarders do not rehome their sheltered animals; they hang onto them, believing that no one will love and care for the animals as well as they do.

Some real rescuers have a lot of animals that no one wants to adopt, but they feed them all well and give every animal the veterinary care it needs, often using their own money to save animals that would be killed by other "shelters". And they actively rehome, or are willing to rehome their rescued animals.