Self-proclaimed “crazy paramedics” arrested for animal cruelty

Two New Jersey women were sentenced to nearly a year in prison for keeping about 180 dogs and cats in their home under “unsanitary conditions.”

According to a press release from the Ocean County District Attorney's Office, Judge Guy P. Ryan sentenced 60-year-old Michele Nycz and 51-year-old Aimee Lonczak on Friday, August 16, to 364 days in the Ocean County Jail as a condition of a four-year suspended sentence.

The two are also banned from owning animals or working with animals for the rest of their lives – even as part of charitable work.

Nycz and Lonczak pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty in June 2024 in connection with an investigation in Brick Township that began in December 2022. Lonczak also pleaded guilty to child neglect “in connection with the same investigation,” according to the press release.

According to prosecutors, Brick Township police received a report investigating “an anonymous complaint” about Nycz and Lonczak “operating a puppy mill” in their home. When officers entered the home to speak with them, “they noticed a strong odor coming from the house and heard barking.”

Officers were “allowed” to enter the home, and when they entered the premises, “they noticed an intense odor and unsanitary conditions.” They also found “animal cages with dogs and cats stacked on top of each other.”

“Due to the conditions prevailing in the home at the time, officers were forced to evacuate the building and requested a hazardous materials team,” the Ocean County District Attorney's Office said in a press release.

Eventually, rescue workers in protective suits entered the house and removed “approximately 129 dogs and 43 cats” that had lived there, as well as two dead dogs.

Lonczak and Nycz were “arrested at the scene without incident and transported to the Ocean County Jail” before being released on bail. The two women were found to be living at the home.

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According to Daily Voice and local radio station New Jersey 101.5, Lonczak and Nycz ran a social media page where they called themselves “Crazy Rescue Ladies.” In their social media bio, they described their organization as a “responsible rescue organization” that saves “injured, unwanted street animals” and takes in dogs from several states, including Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

According to media reports, some of the animals rescued from the shelter were nursed back to health and released for adoption.