To be a bit worried about my Dsister?

[SunflowerSun97]

She is a mum of 5 children age 4-14, one of which is non verbal autistic and has learning disabilities and she also runs a pet rescue from home and has her own pets. She currently has 4 dogs ( her own) and 4 rescue puppies left who she is hand rearing and she's keeping 2 of them, so that'll be 6 dogs she owns in total as well as taking more in whenever needed, also 3 cats, some guinea pigs and rabbits also. Her house is over ran currently. She is due to take more animals in also and some have been with her some time and she ends up keeping them. Her house is quite dirty and cluttered, she tries to keep it in some order but there's pet food everywhere, clutter, the animals wee on the floors and there is just buckets with wee in the living room where its mopped up, it smells, the sofas are filthy and scratched to bits and it's just general chaos in there, dogs barking and in cages and a big puppy crate taking up the living room. All her money is going on the rescue. I love her love for animals but its over running the house and I know she gets no sleep and I don't think she fully copes but she can't stop. Aibu to be worried about her?

She needs to ditch the animals and focus on the kids, before someone who isn't her sister finds out and reports her straight to the social services.

I'd be telling her directly

Exactly this.

Sorry yes, it should say worried about her and the children of course. I think she is overwhelmed but she says she'll never stop the rescue.

Your sister sounds like she may have animal hoarding disorder, particularly since you say she’s not managing the animals’ sanitary needs properly, and doesn’t have enough room to house them all comfortably. If I’m right, calling what she does “running a rescue” is probably her way of justifying her hoarding. Animal hoarding is a mental illness, and she needs intervention - for the sake of her kids and her animals, as well as for her own sake.

Is she actually running a working rescue centre or just "hoarding" animals ?

Doesn't sound like she's rescuing them at all. The alternative is better than living in an overcrowded house covered in mess and buckets of urine.

This seems more like a mental health problem.

So, she takes in animals that need help or have been abandoned, found in bad conditions, anything like that. Then she says she is fostering and going to find suitable homes for them, but she never really does, she calls them 'foster fails' but there's been many of them now. A couple of the puppies went to new homes but she still as 4 and she's keeping 2 of them, on top of the 4 dogs she already has. She said she was looking for suitable homes for the cats but they've been with her a good few months now and so they'll probably end up staying too and she's due to take more in and always checking the 'free to good home' ads and stuff and would take any of those in too. Same with the small animals, they live in the children's bedrooms

Worry about the children. She cannot care for them and all these animals. Report to the school safeguarding officer.
Are you able to take the kids for short times?

Of course, I worry about them too. I am starting to get even more concerned as when I visited, the front entrance was basically blocked with litter trays, Dnephews wheelchair, some big bags of cat litter and dog food, just stuff lining the hallway and had to squeeze past, it's becoming a real hazard now. I can take them for short times yes, 14 yo Dnephew is good and helps out his mum but its just getting out of hand..

My MIL could never say No to rescued cats and ended up with 30+ in the house, using all her pension to feed them. Your sis needs to get her priorities right. Her first duty is to her children and that includes keeping their house clean, them clean and having the time to be the best mum she can be.
She needs to limit numbers to something reasonable by rehousing some through a local animal rescue charity, and perhaps express her love for animals by involvement with that group. The animals of her own that she re-homes would probably be better off in a quieter home with owners who have the time and money to give them the best lives.

How does she fund all this pet food etc?

You’re not unreasonable to be worried. If social services find out about this she’ll be fighting to keep her kids. Is there a partner on the scene?

Does she even look after the animals properly? If you reported her anonymously to the RSPCA might they encourage her to get rid of them? Poor kids having to live like that.

Having seen what other posters have said, I’d advise against getting any external agencies involved if you can manage it. The RSPCA could call social services on her. I’ve witnessed social services in action a few times and I’ve yet to see them do any good, but I have seen them do huge amounts of, often irreparable, damage. Deal with it privately if you possibly can. But someone does need to deal with it. The animals need to go for the sake of the kids. And the kids absolutely must come first. It might be time for some tough love.

This sounds so stressful for all involved, sounds like she has really good intentions but she's overwhelmed herself. I'd try and have an honest conversation with her.