Bob Howard lives alone except for his chihuahuas. At some point he made the dubious calculation that he could supplement his social security income by selling the occasional dog.

But he really wasn't good at selling them as he couldn't bare to part with even one. And soon the neighbors were calling the cops on him periodically due to the relentless yapping when the dogs were in the back yard, and the disgusting smell of poo that could be detected a block away.

"My dogs are all I have. They're my babies, okay?" whined the santa-bearded dog-hoarding Oklahoman, early in April 2010. "I don't bother nobody and don't know why they complain about me."

Animal Cruelty Investigator, Wade Farman, didn't find that the dogs had been mistreated or poorly maintained, except for letting the poop accumulate in the back yard.

So he has been trying to work with Bob, giving him a month to get a breeder's liscense so that his activities become legal, with threat of animal cruelty charges hanging over him if he doesn't keep them clean.

So if Bob does manage to clean up his act a bit, he may well get to keep all his buddies, probably not the outcome the neighbors hoped for but imagine if you were a lonely old santa with only your elves for company.