House of Cats

This strange story was reported on the news last week.
The police, after someone call them, arrived to a house in a nice neighborhood, just to find that it was full with cats. Dozens of cats. They all seem to be in a good shape, but the smell was unbearable.
The strange thing was, that the owners of the house (and the cats off course) well... they lived outside, in their cars. They had their clothes in it, and they were sleeping in it.

As far as I know, no charges filed, though it is unusual behavior, there was no cruelty against the cats.

The question is why, why people reach a point where pets overcome their live. Is it too much love? Is it the inability to make rational decisions when it comes to pets? Is it a mental thing that has nothing to do with pets? How much is too much pets to own?