An elderly homeowner of Phoenix, Arizona, was not intentionally breeding chihuahuas. He just loved them, but had not spayed or neutered them, so eventually had quite a few. They were his only family. When he died early in February, 2010, no one discovered his body for two and a half weeks.

The twenty-two chihuahuas had been all that time without food or water, and had lost as much as half their weight. Eight of the dogs had starved to death. Three others were in critical condition, but stablized by a veterinarian. All fourteen survivors were severely malnourished. Several of these survivors are shown in the photos above and below.

Stacie DaBolt of the Arizona Human Society said of the bone-thin dogs, "They are alive at all only because they were eating off their owner's corpse. Sad to say but that is the reality of what we are dealing with."