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When Greg McLeod and Holly Sharpe moved into their Beach-area home five years ago, they thought they could tolerate the fridge on their neighbour’s porch and the group of cats that hung around.

But as piles of old Christmas lights, shopping carts, blankets and newspapers enveloped the fridge and the feline population grew close to 30 — leaving cat feces strewn across nearby Beech Avenue yards — neighbours became increasingly concerned. One even constructed a six-foot-tall, front-yard fence in an effort to block the unsightly junk heap and contain the cats.

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It’s scary when you see someone going into the house next door with a Hazmat suit

“It’s scary when you see someone going into the house next door with a Hazmat suit,” said Ms. Sharpe, 36. “And we’re supposed to be okay living here?”

The phenomenon of hoarding has garnered increasing attention in recent years, with the popularity of TV shows such as A&E’s Hoarders and well-publicized cases in Toronto, including a packed apartment that fuelled a six-alarm blaze on Wellesley Street in 2010. Such cases span issues of mental health, animal welfare, fire safety and bylaw compliance, while pitting individual property rights against the broader community’s desire for a clean and orderly environment.