Three alpacas beaten to death in Great Missenden

The owners of the alpacas, Lesley and Andrew Sapsford, have been left “heartbroken” after the attacks - and they are now worried for their remaining 80 alpacas, who live on a farm in Little Kingshill, Great Missenden.

Two of the alpacas - called Pleasance and Gabriella, who was pregnant - were found dead in their shelter on Saturday (6 January). The following day a four-month-old alpaca named Ragamuffin was also found dead in the shelter. Their bodies were taken to a vet who carried out a post-mortem examination, which showed that they had all suffered blunt force trauma.

Lesley said: “Somebody has purposely done this and they did it in the shelter so that they could not be seen. We are heartbroken and devastated - we can’t believe that anybody would be so cruel.

“At this time of year there isn’t any grass on the field so we feed them concentrate, which means they would have seen someone coming onto the field thinking that they were going to be fed.

“Our alpacas have never been treated badly by a human before. We can’t process the evilness of it all. We’re so worried about our other alpacas now. Whoever has done this could do it again.

“If anyone saw anything, heard our alpacas screaming, saw any strange cars - anything at all which would give us a lead - please report it to the RSPCA or the police.”

RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith, who is investigating, said: “This is a sickening act of cruelty which has left the owners devastated. It is very concerning that someone would think it acceptable to do this to an animal.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who has any information at all which could help us in our investigation.”

People with information should contact the RSPCA’s appeals line on 0300 123 8018.

To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit our website.