The two women who were keeping more than 170 pets inside a home in dangerous conditions have pleaded guilty.
Michele Nycz, 60, of Brick, pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty on Monday. Aimee Lonczak, 51, also of Brick, pleaded guilty to the same two charges as well as child neglect, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
They were arrested in Dec. 2022 after authorities discovered they were keeping 129 dogs and 43 cats in a house in Brick where they resided, along with Lonczak‘s 16-year-old daughter.
Another two deceased dogs were also found in the home on the day of the search, officials said.
Police showed up at the residence on Arrowhead Drive after an anonymous caller suspected that the home was the site of a puppy mill. While speaking to Lonczak and Nycz in the driveway, officers were able to smell a strong odor coming from inside the house.
Upon entering the residence, officers found the pets in harsh conditions, with many being kept in crates that were stacked on top of each other, authorities said.
Hazmat teams were called and removed all of the pets from the house, a process that took about ten hours. Eight of the animals required immediate emergency care, prosecutors said.
All of the surviving pets have since been placed in permanent homes.
After being released from county jail following a detention hearing in Dec. 2022, the two women showed up at an animal shelter in Stafford and demanded that some of the dogs be returned to them. The shelter refused and notified the police. As a condition of their release, the women were not allowed to have contact with animals or return to the Arrowhead Drive home.
Following the incident, an Ocean County judge barred the women from having any contact with animal shelters or pet stores.
The women will be sentenced on Aug. 16. The state is seeking sentences of 364 days in county jail as a condition of probation in addition to a lifetime ban of owning, working or volunteering with animals.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
