Four alpacas have been shot dead with a rifle in a Cambridgeshire village, police have said.
The animals, called Calvin, Klein, Martha and Juniper, were all attacked in a field in East Hatley between 6pm on Saturday and 8.30am on Sunday.
A fifth alpaca, Phoebe, was also shot in the face but survived, whilst one ewe was “massacred by dogs” and had to be put down.
When their owners Brian and Dawn French checked on their animals on Sunday morning, they discovered a scene of “carnage”.
Four alpacas have been shot dead with a rifle (stock)
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In a post on Facebook, Dawn said “what an absolutely horrific day”.
“Four of our lovely alpacas shot in the head and killed, one ewe massacred by dogs, another alpaca wounded and one alpaca and ewe terrified and so skittish.
“Police are taking it very seriously with guns involved… what on earth next?” she wrote.
Brian told The Telegraph: “It’s horrific. It’s something I can’t actually believe that someone could do to a poor innocent animal.”
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Cambridgeshire Police has appealed for anyone with information to come forward and have begun carrying out house-to-house inquiries.
Sgt Tom Nuttall, from the rural crime action team, said: “This was a highly distressing crime that has caused death and serious injury to defenceless animals.”
Brian said that the animals had been found at different places around the field, suggesting they tried to flee.
“They’d burst through fencing and even tried to get through the gate – there was blood all over that. They were shooting them on the move. Every one was a head shot.”
Cambridgeshire Police has appealed for anyone with information to come forward
Cambridgeshire Police
The herd of six alpacas and one ewe were kept in a field rented from a farm and had been there for six years.
Dawn said that the bullet caught the side of Phoebe’s face, which has given her a “nasty wound and paralysis”.
“We’re hoping it’s just swelling and temporary and the nerve isn’t severed,” she told the BBC.
The farm owner, who asked not to be named, said of the alpacas: “They were just lovely. It was so nice to see them every day. When we had visitors we would bring them out to look at them.”
She said she could not work out how the killers made it onto the farm and slaughtered the animals without being noticed.
