Purgatory Falls Alpaca Farm in Lyndeborough is now housing the animal. Tim and Dana Welch, who own Purgatory Falls Alpaca Farm, were called in to help round up the animal after the property’s owner, Arthur Cernota of Hancock, had attempted to go through state and local agencies to remove the guanaco without much success.
The Welches, too, attempted to contact some agencies to see if there was a possibility of tranquilizing the animal in order to capture it, but said they generally got trapped in a case of pass-the-buck.
Eventually, said Tim Welch, they decided to move ahead and try to remove the animal the old fashioned way — cornering it with volunteers and a impromptu rope fence and grabbing hold of the animal with bare hands. And last Thursday, that’s what happened, after almost two hours of chasing the guanaco down.
The animal was the only one left after her owner, Daniel Ramage, rounded up the rest of his herd a few weeks before, but was unable to capture the lone guanaco. The herd was left on its own for some time before that, after Ramage stopped residing at the property, and some were killed by coyotes or other causes, leaving the fields littered with skeletons.
Tim Welch said in an interview Wednesday that the animal, which they have been calling Cornflake, has been acclimating to the Welch’s herd of 80 alpaca and two llamas. While they initially thought her to be a llama, she is actually a guanaco, said Welch, the parent species to the llama, who are mostly wild in their native South America.
The Welches have experience with rescues of camelids — llamas, guanacos, alpacas and vicunas, specifically — having taken in animals from states as far away as Florida; in fact, nearly 30 of their current herd are rescues. She has only recently started to form a bond with the herd’s two llamas, said Welch, and has had to be slowly introduced to the farm’s barn.
Welch said that he doesn’t think Cornflake has ever been inside of a structure before, and is afraid of their barn, so they have been taking her inside for a few minutes every couple of days for brushing and care, to show her that the barn is not a bad place to be. Her fur is matted, said Welch, but will have to wait until the cold weather recedes for shearing.
Welch said Ramage’s son, Noah Ramage, had been in contact with him via Facebook and expressed that they would like to reclaim her. Welch said he would be willing to do that, but only if the Ramages were willing to have their current property inspected by the state vet’s office for suitability, and show proof of past care of the animals through feed and hay receipts and veterinarian records; proof of ownership; and reimbursement for medical treatment, such as shots and de-worming medication that the Welches have paid for.
The Welches were forced to take the rescue into their own hands after a series of unsuccessful attempts to find the state or local agency responsible for dealing with animal abuse, neglect or abandonment.
They tried N.H. Fish and Game, but were told that department doesn’t deal with domesticated animals. Attempts to coordinate a rescue with the ASPCA and the Monadnock Humane Society were equally fruitless. A call to Hancock Police got Chief Andrew Wood out to the farm twice searching for the animal to check its welfare, but he was unable to find Cornflake in the expansive fields.
Hancock does not have a dedicated animal control officer, said Wood, but the Police Department is responsible for animal complaints. Wood said that Hancock uses the Monadnock Humane Society to assist with allegations of animal neglect or cruelty.
He added that there have been complaints in the past about the treatment of the herd on Elmwood Road, and an agent from the Monadnock Humane Society had checked the animals’ welfare, but had not found any indication of neglect or cruelty at the time.
According to Steven Sprowl, the humane agent for the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, NHSPCA is one of the only organizations in the state that is equipped to deal with livestock animals. The NHSPCA, Sprowl said, has both the equipment to transport them and space to hold multiple large animals. While its facility has room for about a dozen animals, there are foster homes set up throughout the state to take in animals that it can’t accommodate.
Abandonment is a fairly common problem, said Sprowl. Tenants or owners of property, if they are evicted or otherwise have to leave the property, are expected to take their animals with them when they leave. Not doing so is classified as abandonment. Often, said Sprowl, if there is an eviction, tenants are not allowed back on the property, and returning is considered trespassing.
If the NHSPCA is contacted about abandoned animals, they will recover them and hold them for seven days, while they attempt to contact the animal’s owner. At the end of seven days, the animal becomes property of the NHSPCA, and can be put up for adoption. Landowners who have tenants who leave animals behind can also take possession of abandoned animals, said Sprowl.
Animal owners that leave animals behind can be charged with animal abandonment, which is a misdemeanor. If multiple animals are abandoned, a person can be charged with multiple counts of abandonment, or have a single charge that encompasses multiple animals, according to Sprowl.
Wood said there are currently no active investigations or charges pending against Ramage .
Sprowl said animal abandonment is not uncommon in the state, and he deals with several calls a month dealing with smaller animals such as cats, dogs, fish or snakes. Livestock abandonment is not unheard of either, he said, though not as common, and he is currently dealing with two livestock abandonment cases.
Sprowl said that most people have advance notice of an eviction or other circumstances that would force them to leave a property, and most of the abandonment cases he sees are a result of owners waiting to try to make arrangements for their animals.
“There are resources out there, but I find that people wait until the last possible minute,” said Sprowl.
“That puts everybody in a bad position because then we have to run around and try to find a spot for these animals. It makes it harder. If you know you’re going to be out, start looking for a place for your animals right away. It is the responsibility of the people who own them to take care of their animals or find some place to surrender them, and if they don’t do that they can be charged.”
Attempts to contact Ramage were unsuccessful, and messages left for Cernota were not returned.
(Monadnock Ledger Transcript - December 18, 2014)
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