PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The owner of a popular Bucks County farm is facing a long list of charges since the rescue of more than 100 animals from the property last summer.
The 149 charges filed against 53-year-old Abigail O’Keeffe include two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and 21 counts of misdemeanor neglect of animals.
Cindy Kelly, with the Bucks County SPCA, says they were alerted in August to conditions at O’Keeffe’s Narrow Way Farm in Wrightstown. “It's been a large case,” she said, “maybe the largest in our 112-year history, with 127 farm animals, many of them sick and in very poor condition.”
She says the steer, chickens, sheep, and goats were living in filth, being fed a very poor-quality diet, with minimal — if any — veterinary care. Two of the animals died during the investigation, and 36 are still receiving veterinary care, while the others have found proper homes.
There was public access to part of the farm, she says, but few knew the conditions behind the scenes. “A lot of people in the community knew these animals by name, because a lot of people would go there with their kids,” she said.
O’Keeffe posted on social media in late July that she had moved to Belize in Central America with plans to open a similar farm in that country:
“Animal welfare organizations in Belize learned of her and were doing what they could to put out messages of warning to prevent her from possibly setting up a similar situation there,” Kelly said. It’s unclear if O’Keeffe has returned to the U.S.
While the SPCA has been able to find suitable homes for many of the animals rescued from O’Keeffe’s farm, Kelly says caring for such a large volume has been a challenge for the organization. She said donations from community members to the Animal Relief Fund have helped cover veterinary expenses.