NEWPORT, N.H. — A 65-year-old Langdon, N.H., woman charged with neglecting 26 rescue horses avoided jail time after attorneys and a Sullivan County judge agreed she didn’t mean to harm the animals.
“She had more animals than she could provide for,” Sullivan County prosecutor Geoffrey Gallagher said during a virtual sentencing for Olexandra Beck on Monday. “Things in this case sort of snowballed.”
Beck pleaded no contest in Sullivan Superior Court to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. Judge Brian Tucker sentenced her to six months in prison, all suspended for two years, based on good behavior.
She was also ordered to follow conditions set by the court, including that she can own only up to four horses in the future.
“No one is accusing you of intending to harm any of the horses,” Tucker told Beck during the court hearing, but added that she was merely “overextended.”
Beck, who suffers from medical conditions including multiple sclerosis, appeared by video Monday from the office of her attorney, Jay Buckey. She spoke with a choked voice when answering questions and occasionally looked upward as prosecutors detailed the charges against her.
The charges stem from a November 2018 investigation the Department of Agriculture and the state Veterinarian’s Office launched into Beck’s farm, following complaints made about the horses she rescued and cared for there.
State officials were concerned about the condition of the horses, who had “low body scores” that indicated they were malnourished, Gallagher said in court Monday.
Beck has previously has said the horses were “debilitated” before they came to her Langdon farm.
Initially, officials took nine of the horses and brought them to other animal rescue establishments, where their health improved. Officials returned in January 2019 and seized the remaining 17 horses, who were all brought to rescue farms around the state, Gallagher said.
Beck was originally charged with four misdemeanor counts of animal abuse, though the remaining counts have been dropped as part of her plea deal.
“I am not an abuser,” Beck said in a prepared statement to the judge during Monday’s hearing. She detailed her nearly lifelong experience with horses, saying she’d been riding since she was 7 years old and went on to train others, some of whom became professional horse riders.
Beck said she had been caring for horses throughout her adult life and that state officials had mistreated her during the investigation and seizure of the animals.
“It was assumed that I was a backyard horse person with no education,” she said. “As far as the state is concerned, I’m thrown into the pool of uncaring, slovenly abusers.”
Buckey told the judge that Beck rescued the horses to save them from being slaughtered, and that she “devoted her life” to rescuing animals.
“She loves animals very, very much,” he said.
Gallagher agreed with Buckey, arguing that it’s “clear Ms. Beck cared about the animals,” but saying there was a disconnect between her ability to care and her ability to provide for them.
“She had difficulty saying ‘no’ to taking on more animals,” he said.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.