Lower Makefield Man Pleads Guilty To Animal Cruelty

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — A man from Lower Makefield has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after feces-covered ducks, chickens and pigs were found, both living and dead, at his New Jersey farm.

Henry Guzikowski, 55, pleaded to two counts of third-degree animal cruelty, Mercer County (N.J.) Prosecutor Angelo J. Onfrio's office announced. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Guzikowski will serve 90 days in jail then be on probation.

He will be required to make restitution to Hamilton Township, where his farm is located, and will be prohibited from owning or otherwise possessing animals, the prosecutor's office said.

According to prosecutors, Hamilton Township officials contacted their office in August 2018 after receiving numerous complaints about the farm from residents and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

A search warrant was executed on Aug. 21 on Guzokowski's 14-acre farm. Investigators found 38 ducks in one feces-filled duck coop, two of them dead.

Twelve chickens were found inside an abandoned house. Five of them were dead and another died while detectives were securing the property. Another 54 chickens were found in a chicken coop, one of them dead.

All of the chickens appeared to be infected with a disease, prosecutors said, and one had severe growths on its feet.

Nine pigs, covered in feces, were found in what prosecutors called a garage-like structure on the property. As they were investigating, they were notified that a 500-pound hog from the property was roaming in a nearby neighborhood.

The hog was lured back and secured in a pen.