ANTRIM COUNTY EXOTICS: Animal abuse case ends in guilty plea

Nov. 3—BELLAIRE — A woman facing multiple felony animal cruelty charges in Antrim County pleaded guilty during a remote hearing in 13th Circuit Court as part of an agreement previously negotiated with the prosecutor's office.

Brooklynn Beck, 28, of Central Lake, was facing six felony charges after law enforcement in April executed a search warrant on the Muckle Road house she was renting, seizing 106 animals from substandard living conditions, court records show.

Court staff confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Beck had pleaded guilty that morning, but declined to state the specific charges.

Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter, at a July 18 scheduling conference, offered to dismiss three of six felony counts of killing or torturing animals and one count of abandoning, or cruelty to, more than 25 animals filed against Beck in exchange for a guilty plea on three counts of killing or torturing animals, court records show.

On Oct. 6, Beck's attorney, Mattias Johnson, said an updated offer from Rossiter would dismiss four of six felony counts, in exchange for a guilty plea from his client to two counts of killing or torturing.

Beck will be sentenced in December, court staff said, although a date has yet to be set.

Neither Johnson nor Rossiter returned a call seeking comment and the 13th Circuit Court's public records database has been non-functional since sometime last week because of what court staff said was a technical issue.

Beck was previously charged in a Grand Traverse County animal cruelty incident, and arraigned in April on a single misdemeanor charge after officials said a dog died after being groomed by Beck at an unnamed Blair Township dog grooming business.

A complaint about the dog's death led investigators to Beck's house, where Animal Control Officer Inga Waldrep said during an October forfeiture hearing that officials expected to find a dog, a few reptiles and a horse, but instead discovered dozens of malnourished animals living in filth.

Most of them had no access to clean water, Waldrep said, adding it took officials about 10 hours to seize 22 snakes, two ducks, three mice, 25 rats, five turtles, two cats, 10 dogs, one large tortoise, one small tortoise, one bearded dragon, one chameleon, one horse, 55 chickens, five giant rabbits, six miniature rabbits, baby rabbits, one Monitor lizard and one iguana.

The iguana died while investigators were still at the Muckle Road property, Waldrep said, and the Monitor lizard died at the county's animal control facility later that day.

The case captured the attention of animal advocates in at least three states, after court records in Mohave County, Ariz., and Washington County, Utah, show Beck and her fiancé, Michael Patrick Turland, 43, previously incurred animal cruelty or obstruction of justice convictions in those jurisdictions.

Turland is listed as a co-defendant in some 13th Circuit Court documents associated with Beck's charges.

Mohave County records show law enforcement was called to a residence in rural Golden Valley, after Beck and Turland moved out of a house they were renting and officers found dogs, rabbits, snakes, a Savannah Monitor lizard, a turtle, a cockatoo and three cockatiels inside a chest freezer. The dogs, rabbits and birds were emaciated, a Mohave County report states.

"Michael had been notified that they were being evicted," a Mohave County incident report states. "He had moved to an unknown address in Michigan. He was planning on coming back for a few items, including the freezer."

Antrim County Sheriff Dan Bean attended the Oct. 28 forfeiture hearing in 13th Circuit Court and did not testify, although he previously said personnel with his office found a freezer on the Central Lake property with dead animals inside.

"We had the same thing Arizona did — frozen animals, many of them reptiles, and I don't know what all else, until we go through everything," Bean said April 29, the day after the search warrant was issued.

Antrim County had, as of early summer, spent more than $15,000 on food, medical supplies, medical care and housing of the animals, many of which are not accustomed to the northern Michigan climate and require complicated care regimens.

Waldrep in October estimated care for all of the animals, many of which have been returned to good health and will be re-homed, tops $600 a day.

The 2020 Animal Control budget is about $280,000, county records show, which covers salaries, equipment, vehicles, building maintenance, vaccinations, training and operating supplies, among other expenditures.

Waldrep said animals in distress are more expensive to care for than a healthy pet surrendered by its owner or a stray picked up while running loose and unlicensed.

Many of the animals seized from Muckle Road are so-called "exotics," animals such as large lizards, tortoises and large snakes, not often seen in northern Michigan shelters.

The case, which has stressed county budgets and distressed county officials, has been closely followed for months by Kali Williams, an Arizona reptile enthusiast. Williams says in 2021 she loaned Turland her four large boa constrictors for breeding, and that was the last time she saw them. She said she feared they'd all died or been frozen.

But Williams learned one of her snakes, Jigsaw, an elaborately marked Argentine Boa, is still alive and in the care of Antrim County Animal Control.

"You have no idea what a relief it is to find out even one of my snakes is alive," Williams said Wednesday. "I'm getting my boy back. He's lost a tremendous amount of weight — he's a fourth the size of what he was — he's covered in scars, he has rug burns and snake bite wounds, but he's alive."

Williams said she has been in contact with Antrim County officials, previously extended an offer to help re-home the snakes and the other reptiles and is currently arranging travel to Michigan from Arizona with an appropriate vehicle to move the animals.

Williams is employed in a security job with the U.S. government and said she's been working as a Lyft driver to make extra money to afford the re-homing effort, which she estimates could run $10,000 or more.

Antrim County Animal Control is accepting donations toward the animals' care and will charge adoption fees. Williams recently set up a gofundme campaign under the name, "Pet Lovers United, Bring Our Pets Home."