A Bucks County woman will face numerous animal neglect and cruelty charges after being extradited back to the United States from Belize, where she fled last year.
She had left scores of sick and malnourished animals in squalid conditions on her 36-acre farm.
Abigail Tuttle O’Keeffe, former owner of Narrow Way Farm in Newtown, was transported back to the country last week, the U.S. Marshals Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force announced Monday.
In April, authorities in Belize arrested O’Keeffe on firearms possession charges, and after that case was resolved, the U.S. Marshals Service escorted her to Philadelphia before handing her over to Bucks County authorities Friday.
O’Keeffe is being charged with nearly 150 counts in her case, which humane officers have called one of the worst examples of animal abuse in county history. Among the charges are two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, 21 misdemeanor counts of animal neglect, and more than 100 summary offense counts of animal neglect, according to court records.
“This was an exceptional case in terms of the number of animals, severity of their suffering, and the interagency cooperation required to bring Ms. O’Keeffe back to the United States to face charges and gain justice for the animals,” Nikki Thompson, Chief Humane Society Police Officer at Bucks County SPCA, said in a statement.
O’Keeffe’s case goes back to August last year, when a team of animal welfare workers and local police officers served a search warrant on her farm property, resulting in the rescue of more than 100 pigs, goats, and sheep — many of which were found to have infections, parasites, and other medical issues, The Inquirer previously reported. Prior to the investigation, a farm manager had told the Bucks County SPCA that a sheep had been found dead.
During the investigation, a severely malnourished goat died as officials searched the property, and another had to be euthanized after weeks of intensive care, according to an affidavit of probable cause for O’Keeffe’s arrest.
Volunteers who spoke with The Inquirer in August said that O’Keeffe, who has a degree in developmental psychology, had no farming experience and ran the facility in a chaotic way, often recruiting local residents to perform basic tasks. One local farm owner later told the Inquirer that O’Keeffe was “not a real active farmer,” and indicated she was largely absent from day-to-day farm work.
“She had all of these disciples, volunteers who followed her like a cult,” said Ken Heintz, owner of the nearby Windy Meadow dairy farm said last year.
Farm staffers reportedly told investigators they had shared their concerns about the welfare of animals there, and were instructed to treat parasites with over-the-counter dewormers instead rather than bring in proper veterinary care, an affidavit indicates. Animals were also allegedly fed a cheap milling byproduct with little nutritional value, worsening their conditions.
Following the investigation, a number of animals from the farm were adopted into new homes, while others remained under the care of the county SPCA.
Authorities filed charges against O’Keeffe in January, and at the time were not certain whether or not she was in the country. In social media postings last July, she indicated that she was moving to Belize, and investigators believed she did not plan to return.
Belizean authorities, meanwhile, arrested O’Keeffe in Benque Viejo on April 25 for possession of a firearm. The U.S. Marshals Service was later notified she was in custody, and agreed to return her to the United States. The service then coordinated her deportation with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, and escorted her from Belmopan, Belize to Philadelphia last week.
“While the U.S. Marshals Service remains steadfast in its mission to capture violent fugitives, after learning of the heinous animal cruelty allegations against Ms. O’Keeffe, we were please to assist the Bucks County D.A.’s Office in facilitating her extradition from Belize, said Eric Gartner, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
O’Keeffe is currently being held in the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bail, and a pretrial hearing in her case is slated for early October, according to court records.
