Brick Man Who Kept 157 Cats in Home Gets Six Month Jail Sentence, Pet Ownership Ban

Jeffrey Finlay (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

The Brick Township man who previously pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after keeping 157 cats and three dogs in his small home on Mantoloking Road will spend six months in the Ocean County Jail before a term of probation and community service.

Jeffrey Finlay, 56, of Brick, entered his guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer in February. Palmer agreed with prosecutors, who sought a term of 180 days in the county jail as a condition of probation, in addition to a lifetime ban on animal ownership and 25 hours community service not involving animals.

The plea stems from an incident that occurred May 4, 2023, when officers from the Brick Township Police Department were requested to respond to a residence on Mantoloking Road – by Finlay himself – for assistance with removing an excessive number of animals from his residence. Responding officers discovered approximately 157 cats and three dogs living at the residence. It took police and animal rescuers 24 hours to remove the cats and dogs from the residence, which were transferred for treatment and evaluation to the Northern and Southern Ocean County animal facilities, which are under the direction of the Ocean County Health Department.

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On June 5, 2023, the prosecutor’s office and police department received the final veterinary reports from the Ocean County Health Department regarding the animals that were removed from the residence. The report determined that 68 cats had suffered serious bodily injury or had to be euthanized – all as a result of Finlay’s failure to provide necessary care for the animals, prosecutors said in a statement. Based upon the report’s findings, Finlay was charged on June 11, 2023 with animal cruelty, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On June 14, 2023, Finlay surrendered himself to Brick Township police headquarters. He was processed and transported to the Ocean County Jail, and subsequently released under the terms of New Jersey’s bail reform law.