Animal Cruelty, Neglect Charges Filed Against Wrightstown Farm Owner

NEWTOWN, PA — The owner of Narrow Way Farm in Wrightstown is facing numerous charges for what the Bucks County SPCA described as the largest case of farm animal cruelty in county history.

On Dec. 31, Nicole Thompson, a humane officer with the Bucks County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, filed formal charges in Newtown District Court against Abigail O'Keeffe of Worthington Mill Road.

An arrest warrant was issued on January 2 for O'Keeffe, who may be in Belize.

Once in custody, she will be charged with 2 felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals for causing the death of two animals, 21 third misdemeanor counts of animal neglect (failure to provide veterinary care), and 125 summary counts of animal neglect (unsanitary conditions, failure to provide water, or failure to provide veterinary care).

According to court documents, Thompson launched an animal cruelty investigation at the farm on August 5 after receiving information that the owner had left the country with no plans to return, "leaving animals in poor physical and sanitary condition" at the farm.

After learning that a sheep was found dead at the farm, Thompson secured a search warrant, which was executed on August 7 with the assistance of the Newtown Township Police Department.

At the farm, which had advertised “sip and snuggle” afternoons cuddling with baby goats, Thompson said she found animals living in unsanitary conditions, dead and dying animals, and heard reports from caretakers of young animals dying over the past four months.

According to court documents, the farm's manager and other volunteers at the farm told Thompson that many animals had been dying in the past four months after the owner brought a flock of sheep to the farm. The manager said that when he expressed concern about the animals' health, the owner directed him to buy de-worming medication to treat the animals.

"Despite the use of over-the-counter de-worming medication, there was no evidence of veterinary care being provided to the goats, pigs, sheep, cows and chickens," said court documents.

The investigation also revealed that feed being provided to the animals was a milling byproduct that was flaky and would not provide adequate nutrition for the animals, despite it being edible.

Court documents also showed that a 55-gallon blue plastic barrel was found between the pig pen and goat house containing decaying carcasses and giving off an extremely strong odor of decay. According to the farm manager, "it was the owner's way of composting deceased small animals on the property."

According to Thompson, multiple attempts were made to contact O'Keeffe by phone, but she would only communicate via text messages with her farm employees who were on scene. O'Keeffe eventually agreed to surrender all of the animals to the SPCA via a text message, said court documents.

More than 100 farm animals were rescued from the farm with the 25 sickest animals relocated to the SPCA's Quakertown Shelter and barn where they were examined by veterinarians from the Quakertown Veterinary Clinic. They were assisted by the shelter's director of medicine and the SPCA's staff veterinarian.

"Every goat, sheep and cow required veterinary care for de-worming, especially because of the contagious nature of parasites and coccidia," court documents said.

"These facts and circumstances led (us) to believe the defendant failed to provide necessary veterinary care resulting in the death of a sheep and a goat and putting many other animals at risk of serious bodily injury or death due to parasite and coccidia loads," said court documents. "The defendant also failed to provide adequate sustenance for chickens to maintain a normal body condition."