Dogs owned by Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest have spent a total of 77 nights at the pound since July because of poor care by their owner, costing the NBA star $1,942 in boarding and impound fees, county records show.

Placer County animal control officers have gone to Artest's five-acre estate seven times in that period in response to callers' complaints about dogs being loose or not being fed.

Allan Frumkin, president of the Sierra Ridge Estates Homeowners Association at the gated community where Artest lives in Loomis, about 25 miles northeast of Sacramento, said some neighbors stepped in and cared for the dogs themselves.

"It became general knowledge that he wasn't taking good care of his dogs," said Frumkin. "One neighbor fed them and bought a watering machine for them."

The latest incident came last Sunday, when animal control officers took Artest's Great Dane, Socks, saying the animal wasn't being fed.

"This dog was a rack of bones," said Rosemary Frieborn, president of Friends of Placer County Animal Shelter.