Three alpacas beaten to death by thugs on farm

The owners of three alpacas beaten to death in a violent attack on a farm in Buckinghamshire say they are heartbroken.

Lesley and Andrew Sapsford now fear for the lives of their 80 other alpacas at their farm in Little Kingshill, Great Missenden.

Two of the alpacas, one called Pleasance and the other Gabriella, which was pregnant, were found dead in their shelter on Saturday 6 January.

© RSPCA

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The following day a four-month-old alpaca named Ragamuffin was also found dead in the shelter.

Their bodies were taken to a vet, who carried out a post-mortem examination. It showed they had all suffered blunt-force trauma.

‘We are heartbroken’

Mrs Sapsford said: “Somebody has purposely done this and they did it in the shelter so they could not be seen. We are heartbroken and devastated – we can’t believe anybody would be so cruel.

“At this time of year there isn’t any grass on the field, so we feed them concentrate, which means they would have seen someone coming on to the field thinking they were going to be fed.

“Our alpacas have never been treated badly by a human before. We can’t process the evilness of it all. We’re so worried about our other alpacas now. Whoever has done this could do it again.

“If anyone saw anything, heard our alpacas screaming, saw any strange cars – anything at all which would give us a lead – please report it to the RSPCA or the police.”

RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith, investigating, described the killings as “a sickening act of cruelty”.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the RSPCA’s appeals line on 0300 123 8018.