FRANKLIN: These days, the township animal shelter's most well-known resident lets people hold it.

The cat, a gray, short-haired tabby nicknamed Stinky, has made significant progress in the months since two maintenance workers dunked it in a bucket of kerosene, hit it with a fire extinguisher and buried it in the snow when it didn't die.

"He's still nervous, but he's doing well," said Katie Nordhaus, the township's animal control officer

A hearing for Jason J. Mate, 31, of North Brunswick and Janos Kovas, 47, of the Somerset section of Franklin will be held this evening in Municipal Court. They previously entered not-guilty pleas in connection with the Feb. 4 incident at the Franklin Hamilton-Gardens apartment complex on Hawthorne Drive.

Franklin police turned the case over to the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The SPCA filed civil charges along with disorderly persons summonses.

The two men face up to six months in jail, 30 days of community service and fines if found guilty.

An anonymous caller tipped Franklin animal-control officers to the alleged mistreatment of the animal.

When police arrived, they saw the men trying to bury the cat while it was in a Havahart trap.

The hearing will begin at approximately 6 p.m. after other cases have been dealt with, said SPCA agent Murrary Rothblatt.

Tons of adoption offers have poured into the shelter, but the cat will be quarantined until August, Nordhaus said.