USA - Alpaca farmer says dog attacks happen regularly on her farm

17.01.2019 534 views
Meghan Arriola has had an East El Paso farm in her family for generations. During that time, one situation has happened a lot more than she’d like to see. “Out here on the farm we do experience dog attacks,” Arriola said. She told she understands how the owners of Licon Dairy feel after two dogs slaughtered 10 of their animals. “It’s just so upsetting and heartbreaking seeing someone’s dogs here killing your animals,” Arriola said. “You feel the loss. You feel the pain. These animals die very horrific ways.” She says a pack of dogs came into her farm and killed an alpaca and five or six chickens on Dec. 13, 2018. There is one method she swears by to prevent more of the alpaca from being killed. “In fact, I have two llamas that protected a herd of female alpacas from being killed that night,” Arriola said. “They protected them. They moved them away from the area where this attack was happening. It’s hard to be everywhere when you’re on a farm so you need as much help as you can get.” Those llamas are considered livestock guardians. Arriola said animals like dogs, llamas and donkeys can be bred and taught to protect livestock on a farm. One of her other livestock guardians, a Great Pyrenees, was killed during the attack. These guardians are helpful. But there’s no surefire guarantee for any livestock’s safety, according to Arriola. “My animals are locked up at night in dog-proof pens. But it’s hard to say something is dog-proof,” Arriola said. “Because like Licon Dairy, you have all this fencing up and if you have a really big dog that wants to get in they will.” The city of El Paso’s Animal Services told KFOX14 that it does remind people to secure their pets properly. If an animal is found unsecured on another person’s property or in a neighborhood, it can result in a class C misdemeanor and a fine of up to $2,000. Source - https://kfoxtv.com
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