Ten pet alpacas shot dead overnight in Washington, owner says. ‘They’re gentle souls’
The owner of an alpaca farm woke to a horrifying discovery one morning in Washington.
Connie Beauvais spotted one of her alpacas — named Socks — lying dead in his pasture near her house in Joyce, Washington. Shortly after that, she realized most of her herd had been shot dead sometime in the middle of the night, she told KREM2.
“They’re gentle souls,” she told the station. “We call them pasture ornaments and they like that.”
Deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the animal cruelty case as a felony, according to a June 9 post on Facebook.
Beauvais reported the incident to the sheriff’s office the afternoon of May 26 after a veterinarian confirmed 10 of her alpacas “were killed with a small caliber weapon,” officials said in the post.
Beauvais told KREM2 her farm can’t be seen from the road, and she believes it was a targeted attack against her. She said it’s sad that the person responsible “was not big enough to come to my face and talk to me or slash my tires.”
“They had to kill alpacas execution style,” she told the station. “That’s scary.”
Beauvais told Peninsula Daily News that she thinks the five surviving alpacas were hidden by shelters.
She told the outlet that the youngest alpaca was 13 years old. She’s taken care of the animals since their births.
“I haven’t cried yet, but it’s coming,” she said, according to Peninsula Daily News.
More than 150 people had commented on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook post as of the morning of June 13, with many sharing their shock at the incident and condolences to the owner.
“As an owner of a small farm myself, I cannot imagine the pain and heartache the owner is feeling,” someone said.
“I’m so sorry to their owner,” someone else said. “What a painful loss.”
Several of them said they hoped authorities would find the person responsible and bring them to justice.
Authorities ask anyone with information on the incident to report it to dispatch at 360-417-2459 (option 1).
Joyce is a rural community about 150 miles northwest of Seattle.
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