A HORRIFIED animal lover says her alpacas are lucky to be alive – after they were savagely attacked by hunt hounds.
Two of Rachel Simon’s beloved animals were badly injured after being viciously ravaged by the ‘out of control’ dogs from the North Ledbury Hunt, in Herefordshire.
The hunt was forbidden from entering the paddock in Suckley where the animals were attacked at 8am on Saturday.
Rachel and her partner Phil ran into the field in their pyjamas in a frantic attempt to move the dogs – who were ‘hanging off’ the frightened animals.
Ms Simon said several dogs tried to bring down a two-year-old alpaca called Louis, who was bitten several times.
“He had several bites to his neck and body and has needed a few nasty stitches to his leg wounds,” said Ms Simon.
“There must have been a bout 20 of them just hanging off all six of them. I was horrified.
“It was awful, all hell broke lose. They jumped the fence and started randomly attacking the alpacas, biting them, barking and chasing them.
“We had noticed they were getting a bit too close to our land – so we kept the cats indoors.
“A neighbour did inform one of the hunt that they were getting close, but they didn’t seem bothered.
“Then all of a sudden these dogs just leapt into our garden, completely out of control. It took what seemed like forever to find somebody from the hunt to come and crack the whip.
“They were even ignoring the horns – there was no discipline in those dogs.
“We have dogs ourselves and know you have a legal obligation to keep them under control.”
Ms Simon, 42, said she now wants a reassurance that the hunt will not come on to her property again.
She added: “I run a business selling produce made from alpaca fleece – so this is my livelihood at risk.
“I just hope that they keep well away so this situation does not happen again.”
The alpacas are have mainly stayed in the back paddock since the attack but Miss Simon said they had begun interacting with her again after spending the weekend looking after them. Though Louis was still limping quite badly.
She said: “They are sensitive creatures so they could have collapsed and died from the stress.”
Once the dogs were brought under control a further three came into the field but with the help of neighbours they simply joined the rest of the pack.
An emergency on-call vet tended to the injured animals as well as caring for those suffering from stress and shock.
Valerie Allfrey, joint master, said in a statement that the North Ledbury Hunt said she regretted the incident and the injuries caused.
“The Hunt is paying for any veterinary expenses which were required at the time,” the statement added.
The hunt have also repaired fences that were damaged by their hounds.
