"India is not only the world's biggest importer of gold, it's the biggest hoarder of gold, " said Albert Cheng, a managing director of the World Gold Council, which estimates there are some 18, 000 tons of gold locked up in bank vaults and family homes around the country.

NPR: Baubles To Bars: India Gold Culture Defies Curbs

Clwyd Davies, 69, from Wrexham, became known as the "horse hoarder" and has not been seen for more than a week.

BBC: Clwyd Davies outside court

She said the poet and playwright's role as a grain hoarder during food shortages in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries were something that people had largely forgotten about him.

BBC: William Shakespeare

Getting a hoarder to stop is a complicated matter, says Debbie Kanaan, who oversees the animal cruelty division of the Los Angeles district attorney's office.

NPR: Calif. Man Accused of Hoarding Hundreds of Animals

She was described as a dog hoarder - a person who keeps and breeds dog without re-homing or having the necessary space, funding or ability to care for them.

BBC: 140 dogs rescued from one house in County Leitrim