A local farmer is asking county residents to control their dogs after a mob of the animals apparently attacked and killed half of the alpacas on her farm.
Sturgeon County and RCMP officials are investigating the deaths of about 12 alpacas on the Vintage Llamas and Alpacas farm near Riviere Qui Barre earlier this month. Initial reports suggest that the animals were attacked and killed by two or more large dogs while the farm's owners were out of town.
Alpacas are small llama-like mammals commonly raised for their fibre.
The attackers killed seven pregnant females and five crias (young alpacas), said farm co-owner Louise Nelson. Two of the 11 surviving alpacas are wounded, and all are extremely stressed.
"They hear a dog bark, and they just panic," she says. "One girl, she was so traumatized that she's still shaking."
The deaths have cost her farm about $40,000, Nelson said. "This was a pretty tragic thing to come home to."
Canine culprits
Nelson said she and her husband left town for an alpaca show on April 10 and asked a neighbour to watch their 23 alpacas. The neighbour discovered that the animals had been killed on April 17. Based on the state of the bodies, they believe the deaths happened sometime between April 13 and 16.
Investigators from Alberta Fish and Wildlife, Sturgeon County, and the RCMP's K Division found about 12 dead alpacas scattered about the 4.9-hectare property in various states of decomposition. Photos provided by Nelson show the animals surrounded by scattered fibre, some with exposed, emptied chest cavities.
Harley Coleman, on the scene as a pest control consultant with Sturgeon County, said some were killed in the barn, while the others were killed in front of and north of the house.
"It appeared to me that they were killed in three different stages," he added, judging from their different rates of decomposition. The gate that would normally keep the alpacas trapped had also been spread apart. "Something had hit that gate pretty hard."
Coleman said he initially suspected coyotes were behind the attack, based on the coyote tracks around the corpse. When he examined the numerous bite marks, however, he found that they had to have been made by a canine that was at least 23 kilograms in weight — much bigger than a coyote. The multiple bites suggest that at least two animals were involved.
This, plus other evidence, led him to conclude that the culprits were dogs. He said wolves are always a possibility, but there was very little evidence of them in the region. The animals could have been coyote-dog hybrids, or coydogs, but they have not been reported in the region for years. He was not sure if the dogs were feral. The coyotes likely came in to scavenge the alpacas after the attack, he added.
Coyotes also tend to eat what they kill, Nelson said, and to only kill a few animals at a time. "They don't go on a massive massacre like this."
Their animals were not insured, Nelson said, but were protected by a sturdy fence. Coyotes did manage to take some of their animals about five years ago.
Culprits at large
RCMP have yet to find any witnesses to or pictures of the attack, said Cpl. Dave Heaslip, the officer in charge of this case, but do have some leads on the source of the dogs.
An owner whose dog bites livestock without provocation can be fined $1,000 on a first offence, according to Sturgeon County's Dog Control bylaw — $2,500 if that dog is deemed to be vicious.
Landowners can also legally kill dogs that attack livestock on their property under the Stray Animals Act, Heaslip noted, and get judicial orders for their destruction after an attack.
"Nobody likes to see anyone pick up a gun and destroy a dog," Heaslip said. He urged pet owners to keep their dogs at home and not let them roam, especially during spring when animals are being born.
People might think they can let their dogs roam free in the country, Nelson said, but doing so lets them form packs that kill for sport.
"If you have a big dog and more than one big dog, you definitely have to keep them under control."
Anyone with information about this crime should call Heaslip at 780-289-5510 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
