SOCIETY & ANIMALS 24 (2016) 63:77 Society “ “Animals aRILL ‘ihcomisoan The Swedish Swan Lady Reaction toan Apparent Animal Hoarding Case Ingvar Svanberg Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden ingparsvanberg@ucrsuuse Amolal Arluke Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Northeastern University, Boston, Ma, arluke@newedu Abstract, This study describes media and judicial reaction to the first publicly acknowledged case of animal hoanding in Sweden—a 6o-year-old Swedish woman who purportedly “rescued 150 swans over several years by bringing many back to her one-room apart- ‘ment. Reports in the press and social medis reflected curiosity if not admiration for this woman, who was dubbed the ‘Swan Lady" Although some condemned her deeds and saw her as gullty of animal cruelty, most commentators were more fascinated by her ability to capture the aggressive and large birds, and bring them to her home. While judicial reaction framed this case as one of animal cruelty, the response was sympa- thetic and people failed to consider the Swan Lady's mental health when examining herbehavior Keywords animal rescue ~ swans — hoarding ~ cruelty to animals Outside a growing body of academic studies in North America (reviewed in Arluke & Patronck, 2018), there are few scholarly reports about animal hoard- ing outside North America that detail the characteristics of hoarders and their animals. For example, in the Czech Republic, Ondréek and 74k (2014)64 SVANBERG AND ARLUKE reported the case of a hoarder with 80 dogs, one cow, two pigs, one rabbit, and some poultry in unsatisfactory conditions, without any veterinary care. Findings from studies of the characteristics of hoarders and the condition of their animals in Spain, New South Wales, and Serbia (Calvo et al, 2014; Joffe et al, 2014; Vuéinié et al, 2014) are similar to what have been reported in the United States. By contrast, Ockenden et al’s (zoxq) study of animal hoarders in Australia only showed demographic similarities with hoarders in the United States, but not the physical condition of their animals, which were in better condition than their American counterparts. To provide insight into the devel- ‘opment of animal hoarding, Ramos etal. (2013) examined Brazilians who own lange numbers of animals adequately cared for in normally functioning homes. Most of these studies compare animal hoarding to prior reports of this behavior in the United States, showing how similar or not iti. However, mak- ing this comparison assumes that animal hoarding, as such, is an acknowl- ‘edged psychological andjor criminal problem. By making this assumption, a ‘more fundamental question is not asked; namely, to what extent, if a all, will domestically keeping large numbers of animals in inhumane ways be viewed as hoarding in other countries? Afterall, hoarding has only been embraced by public health, medical, psychiatric, and criminal justice authorities in the United States since the mid-i990s, if not later. And if they are not viewed as hoarding, then how will these cases be viewed elsewhere? What is needed, then, are detailed case studies of multiple animals being kept without adequate shelter, food, and care outside North America to exam- ine the extent to which, if at all, they are viewed and managed as incidents of animal hoarding. One such episode that attracted widespread media interest was a recent case of potential swan hoarding in Stockholm, Sweden, although it was not described as such for the most part. There also has not been any scholarly report of animal hoarding in Sweden, Indeed, no fitting term for hoarding ‘exists in the Swedish language (cf. Svanberg, 20n; Holmberg, 2014), but itis likely that many Swedish residents have heard of the term by viewing American ‘media and popular culture programs like Animal Planet, Animal Rescue, and the like, o by watching YouTube, which offers innumerable clips about hoard: ers— often with an unpleasant freakshow undertone. The concept also figures in the animated sitcom “The Simpsons" that features Eleanor “Crazy Cat Lady" Abernathy—a character displaying all of the stereotypical traits of an animal hoarder—who puts in an appearance every now and then (Schwalm, 2009) ‘While Swedish law and psychiatric guidelines do not use the label of hoard- ing, animal protection laws are strict and there are county administrative boards that regulate hobby aviculturists, dog kennels, farmers, and others[THE SWEDISH SWAN LADY 65 ‘with large numbers of animals. There are niles for how many dogs can be kept ‘without permission, how large cages must be for various species of birds, how much area companion animals must have at their disposal, and how to kill aquarium fishes (Jordbruksverket, 2o.4b). Furthermore, citizens need a special permit to keep a kennel—a permit that can be revoked if the animals are not furnished with proper care (Jordbruksverket, 2008, 2014b).. ‘Swedish citizens can also be forbidden to have or ake care of animals if they have shown themselves incapable of doing so properly. Since 2009, Sweden has had a national register of persons who are forbidden to have or take care of animals; as of December 2013, 1,017 people in Sweden have been subjected to this prohibition, most of whom are farmers (Jordbruksverket, 2013) According to the Swedish law, wild animals of European origin cannot be transported or kept in captivity, without special permission (Decree on Protection of Species, 2007). This also applies to injured wild animals who have been captured, although they can be kept for 48 hours. Otherwise, they must be euthanized, released, or handed over to a licensed rehabilitation center. A permit from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Sw. Naturvardsverket) and the County Administrative Board (Sw. kinsstyrelsen) are required to care and rehabilitate injured wildlife In order to investigate the public and professional response to this alleged case of swan hoarding in Sweden, data were collected from press reports between 2007 and 20m. These data included those in the major Swedish newspapers: Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen, and Svenska Dagbladet; and those in local papers from Stockholm: Metro, Stockholm City, and Vart Kungsholmen. Data were also collected from court documents (eg, Stockholm District Court, April 2008, No. B 176-08), police summaries relating to the case from 2007, photo documentation by the County Police of Stockholm (Polismyndigheten i Stockholms lin: City 1/N: PL21/2007), veterinary testi ‘mony from the National Veterinary Institute (sva: Veterinary report, Utlatande 2007-122, Dnr 0210-K28281-07), statement from the Swedish Animal Welfare Agency (Djurskyddsmyndigheten, Yttrande 2007-11-22 dnr o20-K28282-07), and several online discussion sites (e.g, wwwlashback.org) Animal-Hoarding Cases in Sweden While scholars have documented the nature and existence of animal hoarding in the United States in some detail, the behavior is believed to exist in other countries as well (e.g, Gross, 2009; Reinisch, 2009). Although the term animal hoarding is rarely used in the Swedish press, media reports and court verdicts, soctery « awimats 24 (2016) 627766 SVANBERG AND ARLUKE suggest Sweden has its share of animal hoarding without it being labeled as such, even if it appears to be less common there (or, at least, the number of ‘eases reported in the Swedish media is relatively small}. On the whole, then, attention to animal hoarders in Swedish mass media has been very limited despite several odd cases in recent years. ‘When there are reports of the amassing of neglected animals, many involve domestic ones, cats in particular, consistent with scholarly reports in North America showing that the most commonly hoarded animals are eats or dogs (or sometimes other companion animals), followed by farm animals. Of 133 ‘American cases studied in 2001 to 2002 (Berry etal, 2005), almost half involved dogs (46.4%); cats were the predominant animal in 33.9% of the cases; and the others involved birds (5.4%), farm animals (5.4%), rabbits (3.6%), horses (3.6%), and exotic companion animals (1.8%). Occasional reports crop up in the Swedish media about “eat ladies (Le, ‘women hoarding cats) as well as (somewhat less frequently) about people who collect dogs. These cat ladies are portrayed either as tragic loners for ‘whom things have fallen apart or as harmless people who love their cats. In general, however, personal sketches and background reporting are scarcely to be found. As early as 950, the Swedish author Jan Fridegird published a short story about a cat-hoarding woman in conilict with local authorities (Fridegard, 1950). More recently, in 2006, 29 dead cats and 20 neglected living ones were found in a woman's rundown apartment in Nontilje (Behdjou, 2006) and in 2010, a news item appeared about a Swedish 60-year-old woman with 191 cats in herapartment,173 of which had to be euthanized because they were in such bad condition (Grahn Walter, 2010; Stockholm Administrative Court of Appeal 201, No. 34709-10). Despite the exceptional number of cats, the coverage in question was scanty (in all likelihood because of the human tragedy involved). Somewhat less frequent are media reports about people who collect dogs. For example, there was a report of a woman who legally fought for her right to keep a large number of dogs and moved a number of times between munici- palities in order to continue collecting dogs each time she was prohibited from doing so (L6fgren, 2007). In another case, a woman in Norway, infamous for mistreating and keeping too many dogs, moved to Sweden after she was pro- hibited from keeping animals in her own country (Olofsson, 2012). Another dog case attracted considerable attention when a woman in Stockholm kept 146 Yorkshire Terriers in her home (Keller, 2006; Sturestig, 2006). And in 2009, a relatively well-known “animal trainer"—who had been forbidden to own oF keep animals, and who was also under pressure from animal-rights actvists— committed suicide; approximately 150 animals were found in her home after her death, including forty dogs (Julander, 2009).[THE SWEDISH SWAN LADY or ‘Men are seldom mentioned in these reports. A 67-years old man in the village Ostra Vemmenhdg near Skurup in southern Sweden lived in a small apartment of 77 square meters with his much younger partner, a ¢-years old daughter, a grown-up son, three dogs, three eats, and a pony. The living room ‘was used asa stable and the entire apartment was soaked with feces and urine. ‘The tragedy was discovered when the landlord evicted the tenant for not pay- ing rent (Ullmin, 2007). Least common are press reports of what appear to be cases of farm and wild animal hoarding, as is true in North America where the amassing of farm and wild animals is less common but does occur including the hoard: ing of raccoons, skunks, and, in one case, the hoarding of twenty beavers in a Connecticut woman's basement (Boodman, 2000). In southern Sweden, five dead sheep were found on a farm, along with 3g lead rabbits and seven dead chickens (Mannheimer, 2011) All publicly reported cases of apparent wild ani- ‘mal hoarding in Sweden have involved birds. Between 2005 and 2010, a man captured no fewer than 13,989 wild birds (among them cranes, owls, and wild geese) and then kept them in an outy- ing building on his property. When authorities finally intervened, they found about 100 living birds; however, the man also kept careful records of all the birds he captured over the years. He was charged with cruelty to animals, and with violating hunting regulations and animal-protection laws (Svanberg, 20n). Coverage of the case was minimal and no mention was made of animal hoarding, although the prosecutor proposed that the man be subjected to a psychiatric examination (Bergfeldt, 201; Séderhamn’s District Court, October 20). Another case suggesting the hoarding of wild birds in Sweden involved a rich older woman who occupied an attractive attic apartment in an historic building in central Uppsala. She kept her windows open throughout the year for pigeons and jackdaws (Corvus monedula) in the city, who flew into the apartment, built theirnests there and—with their droppings and their nests— destroyed it, When the police arrived, the entire apartment was in need of extensive cleaning and the woman was given psychiatric care (Olle Thulin, personal communication, January 1, 201) ‘The Swan Lady ‘On January 31, 2007, in Stockholm, a telephone-company employee made a strange discovery. No one answered when he rang the doorbell, and an unpleas: ant smell was emanating from the apartment. The man became concerned, soctery « awimats 24 (2016) 6277perhaps suspecting that the odor was due to a dead human occupant. Hoping to see something, he peered through the mail slot in the door and saw a pair ‘of swan feet (Naslund, 2007). He immediately phoned the police, who checked with the registrar of persons and determined that the woman registered at the address had no relatives. They also called the city’s hospitals, but the woman in question was not there, A police patrol soon arrived. They tried in vain to contact the occupant, as well as her neighbors, but neither she nor they were at home. They decided, after consulting with higher-ups, to enter the apartment with the help of a locksmith. There was no corpse waiting for them inside. Instead, they encountered a large number of swans plodding about in their ‘own droppings, which smelled extremely badly ‘The police, who were a bitshaken by what they saw, soon established that the ‘occupant of the small apartment in central Stockholm, a 68-year-old woman living alone, had no less than eleven badly soiled swans in her apartment. The floor was lined with newspapers covered with swan feces, and several of the birds were clearly in bad condition, including some who were undernourished. ‘The apartment, on the eighth floor of a building in central Stockholm, was no larger than 25 square meters, The woman claimed subsequently, under inter- rogation, that she had only taken in swans who were injured, and had planned to pass them on to an authorized center forthe rehabilitation of wild birds. Itis striking that in the middle of crowded central Stockholm, the woman brought home a large number of swans to an apartment building without any- ‘one intervening or (apparently) even noticing. Evidently, the neighbors saw nothing. At the very least, no one reacted and tried to talk with the woman or contact authorities to report the behavior. Of course, the womarrs success in taking so many swans home without being noticed (or at least without anyone reacting) may reflect modem urban norms to ignore unusual behavior and do nothing to stop it (Daun, 1996). Yet swans are large, heavy, and often aggressive ‘when confronted with people. It also bears mentioning that many people in Sweden make reports to the police when they suspect that someone has captured a wild animal (Jordbruksverket, 20142). Bird welfare has a long tradition among the urban population in Sweden (Dirke, 2014), and the laws protecting birds are strong (Danell & Bergstrim, 2014). For example, taking in an injured nestling and keeping the bird is widely seen as a wrongful act in Sweden (Abrahamsson, 2013), $0 it is hard to believe that no one would have reacted if the woman's acts were observed. Despite this, reports from the media and the court hear- ing never mention the woman's neighbors, except for the fact that the woman ‘was, according to newspaper reports, known as the "Bird-Lady" among her neighbors[THE SWEDISH SWAN LADY 69 ‘The woman's apartment was small: just 25 square meters, consisting of a hall, a living room, a locked bathroom, and a locked kitchen, furnished with a bed, a bookshelf, an easy chair, a table, and some stools. According to the police and other witnesses, the apartment was in a state of great disorder. There was dust everywhere, and the place was generally a mess. However, there were fresh items in the refrigerator. ‘The swans, who were fully-grown, appeared apathetic and showed no signs of aggressiveness, Several of them had mud on their feathers. Three were in the hall; the remaining eight were in the living room. A couple of the birds were separated from the others by a small railing that formed two stalls. The floors of the hall and room were plastered with newspapers covered with bird drop- pings (Stockholm Police investigation report 2007-12-03 Dnr oz0-K28281-07). ‘The impounded birds were taken to a center for the rehabilitation of wild animals, However, two of the swans were in such bad shape that they had to be euthanized immediately. One had a wing that had long been broken, with festering inflammation; indeed it was only the skin, according to the veterinar- ian, that prevented the wing from falling off. The other was badly emaciated, anda subsequent autopsy revealed that the bird’s internal organs had been rot- ting (Stockholm Distriet Court, April 2008, No. B176-08; sva: Veterinary report. Utlétande 2007-11-22 Dn o210-Ka881-07). An additional two swans were eutha- nized as well; the remaining seven, however, were in good enough condition to be set free eventually (Bynert, 2007). Swan Lady as Animal Lover The case of the Swan Lady in 2007 assumed wholly different perspectives in the press and various social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), portraying her as either a rescuer or a criminal, but not asa hoarder. ‘The Swan Lady was a retiree living on the statutory minimum pension, but had earlier worked in a laboratory at a hospital. According to the woman, she was greatly concemed with the welfare of swans in central Stockholm, of which there are several hundred during the winter (Staav, 1980), and saw herself as a “rescuer” of those in danger. Since 2001, she devoted her time to helping swans, including having some banded by the authorized Bird Ringing Centre at the Natural History Museum. Over the years, she took in 150 injured birds, with the help of @ somewhat younger woman who supplied a car for transporting the birds She also maintained contact with a prominent bander who kept track of the swans in central Stockholm. Indeed, this person (actually a professional soctery « awimats 24 (2016) 627770 SVANBERG AND ARLUKE ornithologist) banded swans at her apartment on at least one occasion. Every day, she searched along the banks of Stockholms Strém for sick and injured swans, using a net to catch swans who apparently needed help. Purportedly, she developed a certain skill atcatching and transporting the birds (Sohlandes, 2007). On several occasions, her efforts to rescue swans attracted the attention of the media (Andersson, 2002; “String kyla hindrar inte Marie i hennes kamp for figlarna;’ Vare Kungsholmen, 2003; Sven-Ake, 2003; Falk, 2005; Bjérnstam, +2007), including reports of eyewitnesses. Witnesses attested to her strong con- com for the swans: for example, she would sit outside at the waterfront for the entire night on New Year's Eve to ensure that if any swans were injured by fireworks, she would take them in, In the process of rescuing swans, she learned a lot about the birds. In many ‘eases, she recognized them individually, which is a challenge because the pure white color of the birds deprives them of distinctive individual features. For her, the swans were individuals, each with a different name (in a seized note- book she named some of the recently captured swans Flamenko, Sven-Millis, Ravelli, Bissan, Simone, Mikael, Lotus, and Skéna Helena). However there isno ‘evidence in any media report that she regarded the swans as companion ani- mals or family members, nor is there any evidence that she attributed human traits to them or placed them in human roles (Serpell, 2003; Svanberg, 2010) Accordingly, ornithological experts sought her assistance for charting swans in Stockholm (Stockholm District Court, April 2008, No. B 176-08, Supplement: Expert witness report; Lindstrim, 2008). For several years, she took the injured swans to two rescue centers; however, they closed in the autumn of 2006 (some few months before her arrest). AS a result, she could no longer take injured birds for rehabilitation, so she started bringing the birds to her home instead. Her notebook shows that from October 2006, beside the eleven swans seized at the police operation on January 31, 2007, she kept an additional xg swans, one mallard, and one woodcock, all of ‘whom were released after a few days to one week. She also claimed to never have had more than four swans in her home at one time. However, in January +2007, the weather worsened for the swans in Stockholms Strim, so she felt compelled to take in more birds than usual. There were eleven in toto when, ‘on January 31,2007, the authorities intervened. She had no permit to capture swans, to transport them, or to bring them home. In addition, she kept the swans for longer than the permitted 48 hours—that is, the time during which a layperson ean take care of an injured bird before turning the bird over to the authorities or an authorized organiza tion (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency [SPA], 2002).Yet the woman denied that she provided the birds with improper care; on the contrary, she[THE SWEDISH SWAN LADY a claimed to have cleaned up after them regularly. When the police entered her apartment, the swans had been alone for only four hours according to the ‘woman, who also said she had been away to attend to more swans. However, expert witnesses testified that the swans must have been in the apartment for along period and did not receive proper care. No one defended her actions directly, yet she inspired a kind of admiration all the same, Eleven swans ina small apartment and the name of “Swan Lady” ‘went far in piquing media interest in her. Some people collected everything ever writen about her as a kind of idol-worship of the absurd. Inthe spring of, 2008, at Sweden's National Muscum of Art, Malin Rosengvist showed her film “Swan Lady” a fictional animated documentary directly inspired by the real event. In May 33, 20m, the word svantyinnan (‘Swan Lady" in Swedish) gener- ated 13540 results on Google (still 1.010 results in November 2014) In the end, the “Swan Lady” became a fiction of the media, although a couple of new pers did infact interview the real woman (e.g, Sohilander, 2007). Swan Lady as Criminal Until the police broke into her apartment, the Swan Lady was seen as a res- ‘euer of injured swans, but once she was tried in court, another public image ‘emerged. The woman acknowledged the broad accuracy of the factual claims made by the prosecution, but denied any wrongdoing. In the spring of 2008, she was found guilty of cruelty to animals and of capturing and transport- ing a large number of living swans between October 1, 2006, and January 31, 2007, including keeping them in her apartment. The court found that, through neglect and in other ways, she had subjected the birds to suffering by confining them in her apartment under unsatisfactory conditions, washing them in the ‘wrong manner, providing them with the wrong feed, and failing to take injured and sick ones to a veterinarian, among other things. However in the court proceedings and in its verdict there was no discussion of animal hoarding. Evidently, no such connection was made by the defense, the prosecutor, or the members of the court. An experienced journalist cover ing the case wrote that he “had never been at a trial where everyone was s0 agreed that the accused meant well" The witnesses, the defense, and even the prosecutor were all convinced of the woman's good intent (Lindstrém, 2008), failing to view this apparent “good intent” asa characteristic of animal hoarders. ‘The case was seen purely as relating to animal protection and the violation of, hunting violations. ‘On the other hand, one of the evening papers made such a connection and. described some ‘other friends of animals for whom things went wrong” (see soctery « awimats 24 (2016) 6277n SVANBERG AND ARLUKE Lindstrém, 2008). While the press described the case in considerable detail, this was the first time this behavior—which was not wholly unknown—was given a label in the Swedish press. According to the report, the woman in question—who became known as the “Swan Lady" (Swedish: svankvinnan) was consumed by a pathological longing to keep a large number of animals and could not grasp that she furnished the birds with inadequate nutrition, shelter, sanitation, and veterinary care (Berry et al. 2005; Reinisch, 2008). Four of the swans had to be euthanized, while the others were given care before being released and ‘restored to their natural habitat" (Bondesson, 12007; Bynert, 2007; Olwan, 2007). The court stated in its verdict that cruelty to animals was a serious crime, and that the circumstances were such that the woman ought to be sentenced to prison, but would not be because of her age, lack of any previous record, and her “orderly conditions’ of life. The judge ‘wrote in his decision that the woman's “intentions have been of the best, even if it went wrong somewhere.” She received a suspended sentence and a fine (Stockholm District Court, April 2008, No. B 76-08; Elfstrém, 2008), ‘The woman did not, in the view of the court, require any special surveil- lance, nor did the court consider whether she had any psychological issues calling for special mental health measures. It did request a special evaluation of whether the woman merited probation, but she did not show up despite being summoned twice, explaining that she did not wish to take part in any such evaluation. Accordingly, there was no basis for judging whether proba- tion was called for. Discussion Although the judge noted, “something went wrong’ in the Swan Lady's failed efforts to care for the birds, the Swedish court and judicial system did not approach this as an animal hoarding case. The failure to do so may have stemmed, in part, from the lack of judicial precedent and advocacy by men- tal health professionals in Sweden for diagnosing such behaviors as hoarding, ‘whether incipient or full-fledged. Media characterizations of the Swan Lady are consistent with scholarly reports of hoarders. As animal hoarders do, the Swan Lady, too, considered herself to be an animal lover, believed she took good care of her charges, and denied strenuously that she harmed or intended to harm them (eg, Arluke & Killeen, 2009). She also displayed many stereotypical characteristics of ani- ‘mal hoarders, including being an older woman who lived alone and who was socially isolated, with her life appearing to have revolved around the swans[THE SWEDISH SWAN LADY 7” (cf. Brown, 20n; Patronek, 1999). The general deterioration of the woman's dwelling also suggests she is a hoarder (Nathanson, 2009}. Media and courtroom depictions of the Swan Lady are also consistent with prior reports of hoarders who present themselves as animal “rescuers” alleg- edly engaged in animal protection. According to Vaca-Guzman and Arluke (2005), the rescuer or animal savior excuse is one of several common excuses advanced by hoarders that can normalize their behavior. This excuse has also been noted in Spain by hoarders who claimed to maintain shelters for home- less or stray dogs (ef. Manning, 2010). Despite such similarities, why did the legal handling of the Swan Lady case make no mention of animal hoarding? As noted above, there were no prior judicial and mental health precedents for handling such cases asa form of ani- ‘mal hoarding, But there may have been other cultural factors that deterred use of this psychiatric label, including the Swedish public's sympathy for and fascination with the case, ‘The fact that the hoarded animals were mute swans (Cygnus olor) played a decisive role in this regard. For example, if the case involved wild geese, it probably would not have received the same media attention. The mute swan is a common bird in Sweden (Fransson & Pettersson, 2001) and is very popular with the public. Almost everyone likes these slender, graceful birds, who are to be found in and near ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water close to areas of human habitation. At least since the eighteenth century, mute swans have been kept in parks, country manors, and palaces. Many towns and cities main- tain them in public parks—a practice that has helped to spread the species in Sweden (Curry-Lindahl, 1957 Svanberg, 2008). Public sympathy for this woman might also have been influenced by the strong and positive symbolic connotations of swans, especially mute swans, in art, stories, legends, and myths, as well as in more modern literature and pop. ular culture all over northem and western Europe (Armstrong, 1944; Young, 2008). This positive symbolic connotation is also true for Sweden and other Scandinavian countries as well. Swan motifs are common in art, including paintings, sculptures, porcelains, and postcards depicting the bid. ‘The swan as subject is also popular in poetry and literature. In addition to Danish author H.C. Andersen's a literary fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” (1843) (a story well-known to almost every Swede), a number of other authors have written about the swan as well—including Swedes like August Strindberg and the crime writer Henning Mankell. The swan also frequently appears in commercials, and on the official seal of environmental approval in the Nordic countries, Ithasalso been adopted as the national bird of Denmark (Brusewitz, 1970; Brondegaard, 1985; Young, 2008). soctery « awimats 24 (2016) 6277™ SVANBERG AND ARLUKE Given that the mute swan is so beloved among today’s Swedes, it seems odd that more people were not upset with the Swan Lady, despite her good inten- tions, especially since she was harming some of them. The absurdity of the case and the fact that the media did not report (very few photos were repro. duced from the police record) further details of the neglected captured swans or their unsanitary situation might have contributed to the public's sympa- thetic stance. Conclusion ‘The case of the Swan Lady fascinated the Swedish public because it made an ‘unusual and captivating human-interest story about the woman, focusing far less on the welfare of the birds, as has been be the case with some hoarding ‘eases in the United States (Arluke etal, 2002). The ease occasioned much com ‘ment, but there were relatively few who described the woman as guilty of cru: elty to animals (the crime for which she had been convicted). On the whole, ‘of course, the perspective of the victim figures little in Swedish reporting on criminal cases (Pollack, 2001) All the same, iti striking how rarely her actions ‘wore condemned, although it was unclear whether several swans had to be ‘euthanized due to her improper care for the birds or because of injuries they had suffered earlier, which might have prompted her to take them in, On the contrary, the Swan Lady became a kind of heroine, or rather anti- heroine, atleast according to some—not because she had rescued swans per se, but because she took these birds into her apartment, Particularly in social media, she became a kind of absurd anti-heroine. The epithet “Swan Lady" adided to the medias spin on this case asa charming, albett ill-informed, behav- ior. Although the Swan Lady died in 20.0, she is still remembered in a positive light by some. 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