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Two women who call themselves "Crazy Rescue Ladies" on social media were charged after authorities found the neglected dogs and cats living in unsanitary conditions in their Jersey Shore home last month, police said.
Daisy, a Bloodhound, was reunited on Saturday, Dec. 31 with the Price family, according to the Ocean County Health Department. Daisy had been fitted with a computer chip which led Ocean County officials to contact Daisy's family in Tennessee.
Tyler Price's family drove 11 hours from Tennessee to the Northern Ocean County Animal Facility in Jackson to reclaim their pet, officials said. Daisy was "all slobber and smiles when she met her family for the first time in several years," the county Health Department said on its Facebook page.
Health Department officials learned from talking to the family that Daisy went missing in Tennessee about two years ago. The Price family was ecstatic, they said.
No one knows how Daisy got to New Jersey.
Fortunately, Daisy was microchipped and the Ocean County Animal Facilities – with the assistance of the Brick Police Department – were able to track her family down in Tennessee.
Aimee Lonczak, 49, and Michele Nycz, 58 — who call themselves the "Crazy Rescue Ladies" — were arrested and charged with animal cruelty and child endangerment, as a 16-year-old child lived in the Brick home.
Lonczak and Nycz have a joint Instagram page for their "animal rescue" organization "Crazy Rescue Ladies." Their bio says they are 501(c)3, and a "responsible rescue we save injured, unwanted, street animals" who depend on PayPal.
Because of the conditions inside the home, the officers were forced to leave and requested that a Hazmat team respond.
Initially, officers estimated that there were approximately 30 animals contained within the residence. Once emergency response teams were able to get into the home it became apparent that the number of animals was in excess of 100.
The home was full of animal waste and the animals were living in horrible and inhumane conditions, police said. At least two animals removed were dead, both were dogs, police said.
The number of animals that needed to be rescued called for a large response from agencies throughout central New Jersey. It took rescuers in Hazmat equipment more than 10 hours to rescue the 135 dogs and 45 cats from the home.
Veterinarian Steven Cudia V.M.D. responded to assess the animals as each was pulled from the home. In addition to the two deceased dogs, approximately eight animals were sent for emergency veterinary care.
The residence was subsequently condemned by the Brick building and code department.
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