Brick Hoarding Case: Council Set To Approve Lien For Cleanup At House

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Council is anticipated to approve a lien against the property were 180 live animals were removed from horrific circumstances in early December.

A resolution to place the lien on the property is on the agenda for Tuesday's Brick Township Council meeting.

The resolution does not detail what the cleanup at 111 Arrowhead Park Drive entailed, but the cost was set at $1,801.54.

The home was condemned by Brick Township code enforcement on Dec. 3, after the animals were removed from the property owned by Michele Nycz, one of two women charged in connection with the conditions at the home.

Nycz and Aimee J. Lonczak were charged with animal cruelty and child endangerment after the animals were found when Brick Township Police Officer Scott Smith, the department's humane law enforcement officer, insisted on checking the conditions inside the home on Dec. 2 while responding to a call about an alleged puppy mill, authorities have said.

Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Alexander Becker detailed the conditions during the Dec. 8 detention hearing for Lonczak and Nycz, saying Smith stepped just a few feet into the home before being forced to leave and call for hazmat crews and assistance because the feces and urine were so deep and the odor so strong it was making his eyes and nasal passages burn.

Becker said cages containing dogs and cats were stacked on top of each other and ziptied together. Feces were encrusted on the cages and dogs in the lower cages were so thoroughly encrusted it was impossible to tell the color or breed of the animals.

There were two dogs found dead in a cage, and there were 129 dogs and 44 cats removed from the home; six dogs and one cat were removed from a vehicle on the property, the prosecutor's office said Friday.

Lonczak and Nycz were living at the property with Lonczak's 16-year-old daughter, and the uninhabitable conditions led to the child endangerment charges for the women, authorities said.

The two women had been released pending trial, over the objections of the prosecutor's office. On Friday, however, the prosecutor's office filed motions to have both women returned to jail, after they were accused of showing up at the Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter in Manahawkin to demand the return of seven dogs they say were their personal pets. Read more: Brick Hoarding Case: Prosecutor Says Women Demanded Dogs From Shelter

A date for the release revocation had not been set as of Friday.

Full coverage:

• Brick Animal Hoarding Case: Questions And Answers
• 180 Dogs, Cats Removed From Brick Home, 2 Arrested: Police
• Dogs, Cats From Brick 'Puppy Mill' Under Ocean County's Care
• How Rescue Founder Hid Brick Animal Hoarding: Fosters, Adopters Speak
• 'Desperate Need': Manahawkin Animal Shelter Asks For Coats, Cash
• 'Nightmare': Popcorn Park Officer Shares Hoarder House Experience
• Hundreds Of Pets In Need Following Brick Hoarder Rescue: How To Help
• Women Released To Await Trial In Brick Animal Hoarding Case
• Animals From Brick Hoarding Turned Over To Ocean County
• Missing-Pet Pleas Pour In To Police In Brick Hoarding Case
• Collie Taken By Brick Hoarders Reunited With Family
• Bloodhound Found In Brick Hoarding Case Reunited With Tennessee Family
• Women In Brick Hoarding Case Want 7 'Personal' Dogs Returned: Reports
• Brick Hoarding Case: Prosecutor Says Women Demanded Dogs From Shelter

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