HAMPTON — A judge has ordered a local family to remove their two pet pigs by May 10 or face contempt charges for violating a court-ordered agreement signed in 2023.
Jessica Lapa Beals and Elliot Beals agreed two years ago to remove the pigs from their Esker Road property as part of a lawsuit settlement with the town of Hampton.
The town of Hampton is taking legal action against Jessica Lapa Beals and Elliot Beals for failing to remove their two pigs from their home.
The town sued the Bealses to enforce its zoning ordinance in the aftermath of neighborhood complaints dating back to 2021. Residents reported that their animals, including four goats at the time, frequently escaped their enclosures, wreaking havoc by feasting on plants, trampling gardens, and defecating in neighboring yards.
Livestock is prohibited in that part of town, and the Bealses’ 0.2-acre residential property contains pens and other structures that were never approved by Hampton’s building department.
Hampton Town Manager Jamie Sullivan said the town reopened the case upon discovering the pigs were still on the property. The matter was heard Monday in Rockingham Superior Court.
Judge Andrew Schulman refrained from issuing contempt charges after the Bealses told the court that the pigs would be relocated to a home in Massachusetts by May 10.
“If they are in fact removed on or about May 10, 2025, and if defendants comply with the other provisions of this order, the court will not enter a finding of contempt,” Schulman stated in his ruling.
The Bealses have been in violation of the agreement with the town since it was signed. The agreement called for the two pigs and chickens at the home to be removed. It also required the Bealses to pay the town $8,569.83 in attorney fees- an amount that remains unpaid.
As part of his order, Schulman directed the Bealses to pay 50% of the town’s attorney fees related to the latest hearing. He also ordered they make monthly payments of $150 until they have paid off the outstanding balance.
A compliance hearing has been scheduled for June 9.
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Why did it take two years to enforce court agreement?
Sullivan previously said they decided to file the court action after they had proof that the pigs were on the property.
In January, the Bealses neighbor Erica de Vries blasted the Select Board for not enforcing the town zoning and not following up with the Bealses to remove the hogs.
“We have two 600, 700-pound hogs that are living in our neighborhood, depressing property values and making life rather unlivable for the people who live there,” De Vries said at the time.
De Vries and her neighbors have long complained about the animals, resulting in over 30 police reports about loose livestock.
De Vries filed a civil suit against the Bealses in 2021, alleging the goats and sheep caused more than $20,000 in damage to her property, including to “her lawn, her ornamental plants, flowers, shrubs.”
A gang of four goats and other livestock is caused a stir on Esker Road in 2021, roaming the neighborhood, and damaging people’s yards.
The goats and sheep were turned over to the NHSPCA in July 2022 after the judge found the Bealses in contempt when the animals had once again trespassed onto de Vries’ property while the case was pending. The judge, at the time, awarded de Vries $8,696
In 2024, the judge ruled in favor of de Vries’ lawsuit and ordered the Bealses to pay an additional $18,425 in damages.
However, de Vries states she has yet to receive any payment from the judgment. She expressed frustration, saying the legal action should not have been necessary had the town enforced its ordinances more effectively
“This isn’t about one property or one animal hoarding situation,” said de Vries. “It is about the Select Board refusing to enforce the rules that voters passed. We have a five-year-old problem, multiple court orders, and still a pigsty in the middle of a residential neighborhood. That isn’t because the courts were slow. It is because the town drags its feet.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton family ordered to remove pet pigs or face contempt charge
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