Two New Jersey women who were arrested in December 2022 after police found them to be keeping 129 dogs and 43 cats in the house where they lived with the teenage daughter of one have pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to animals, the website NJ.com reported. Two dead dogs were also found in the home on the day of the search.
Michele Nycz, 60, of Brick, pleaded guilty to the two charges on Monday, the website reported, quoting the Ocean County prosecutor’s office. Aimee Lonczak, 51, also of Brick, pleaded guilty to the two charges and an additional charge of child neglect.
Police arrived at the house after receiving a tip from an anonymous caller. The caller suspected a puppy mill was being run in the house. Even while speaking to the two women in the driveway, officers could smell the strong odour emanating from the house.
Upon entering, they found the animals living in harsh conditions, with many kept in crates stacked on top of one another, the authorities said. Hazmat teams were called and all the pets were rescued, a process that took almost 10 hours, according to the police. Eight of the animals needed emergency care, prosecutors said. All the pets have since been placed in permanent homes.
The women will be sentenced on August 16. The prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 364 days in county jail for both as a condition of probation, and a lifetime ban from owning animals or working or volunteering with them.
Curiously, a similar case has surfaced in Maryland, another northeastern state. A search warrant last week led police to what was described as a case of “extreme hoarding” in Essex, according to local channel WBALTV. More than 100 parakeets, fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, dogs, cats, and puppies were rescued from the location. All were found in “deplorable” conditions and are receiving medical care, officers said.
Now the shelter in Baldwin, Baltimore county, caring for these animals has called for help to ease overcrowding. To worsen the crisis, it had to take in a dozen strays soon after. The rescued animals are not up for adoption yet, and cannot be recorded either until the animal welfare investigation is completed. But the shelter is seeking the adoption, or at least fostering, of the 170 other animals that were already housed there.
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