Bill to reclassify, protect alpacas unanimously passes both chambers

The United States is the second largest home for alpacas in the world behind Peru.

Alpaca farming in this country – and Virginia – is significant because of the high demand for the animal’s fleece, which is used for sweaters, scarves, socks and other clothing items. The Team USA Opening Ceremony Sweater made by Ralph Lauren for the 2018 Winter Olympics, for example, featured alpaca fleece.

But until recently in Virginia, alpacas were not considered livestock, which would have legal protection for animals specifically raised for food or fiber.

This year, Del. Brenda Pogge, R-Williamsburg, introduced a bill to include alpacas in the Virginia Code definition of livestock after hearing of an attack involving two dogs attacking three alpacas on Jolly Pond Road in James City County.

David Rudloff, the owner of the mastiff mixed-breed and pit bull mixed-breed that attacked the alpacas Oct. 17, was charged with two counts of dogs injuring livestock. The charges were dismissed because alpacas were not considered livestock.

One of the alpacas was bitten deep enough that you could see its leg muscle. Rudloff paid the alpacas’ medical bills and fixed the dogs’ enclosure, he said in court.

“What we tend to find with all these bills is that the government wants things in black and white,” said Robbin Martinelli, owner of Smith Mountain Lake Farm Alpacas in Hardy, Va. “Because it didn’t say ‘alpaca’ exactly in the terminology, they decided with that particular case that it wasn’t in there specifically. If they just stepped back and looked at what the federal government had said, they would have been able to say, ‘Oh, this is considered livestock.’”

In May 2008, the federal government originally considered alpacas to be livestock when Congress enacted the Federal Farm Bill. Livestock was defined as any animal raised on a farm, and the definition created intended to include alpaca and bison. However, the word “alpaca” was not included specifically. Martinelli argues that the terminology included in the bipartisan bill, HB 2689, is still not correct.

“The bill says ‘animals of the genus vicuña,’ but it should be camelid, not vicuña,” Martinelli said. “Vicuña is another one of the many species in the camelid family, so the camelid family would have been proper terminology. They could have excluded camel if they didn’t want to put that in there, but I just think that it just shows how far we still have to go in education the public to what the alpaca is and the importance of it.”

The camelid family comprises camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos, which are wild llamas, and vicuñas, which are wild alpacas.

Many Virginia alpaca farm owners believe that the bill will force pet owners to be more responsible.

“The [bill] offers alpaca owners some level of recourse when irresponsible humans allow their dogs to run loose and injure and kill a valuable animal,” said Judy Howe, owner of Wildwood Alpacas in Woodfard, Va. “Most jurisdictions where this happens has a leash law that is disregarded.”

One of the alpacas on Howe’s farm was killed by neighborhood dogs. State law allows citizens the right to kill any dog that chases, injures or kills livestock.

Martinelli agrees that the bill will promote the notion that there is a responsibility that comes with owning a pet.

“Pet owners need to be responsible for what their pets do, and, as an owner, you need to be responsible for any kind of damages that are caused because you were not securing your pets properly, or you were not watching out for what they did, or ‘Were your animals vicious?’”

What most Virginia alpaca farm owners care about most with the passing of HB 2689 is to educate the public on the importance of alpacas.

Alpacas are one of the few animals that are unable to undergo artificial insemination. Females are only able to have a baby every other year because they has an 11.5-month gestation period, making it a long time to grow a herd.

“Alpaca is the most sought after fiber in the world,” Martinelli said. “It’s just very rare and very expensive because of the wonderful properties that it has. It’s half the weight of wool, three times warmer and seven times stronger.”

Wendy Beatty, owner of Corey’s Alpacas in Clear Brook, Va., is interested in what will come from the bill in terms of grants and loans.

“I hear a positive would be that more general loans and grants would be available,” Beatty said about the bill.

But she thinks the bill might put the larger farms at a disadvantage because it could limit certain loans or grants and tax breaks that the farmers receive, and because alpacas would also no longer be deemed “exotic.”

HB 2689 passed 98-0 in the House and 40-0 in the Senate, and was sent to Gov. Ralph Northam for his signature.