A rural Turlock alpaca farm is recovering from a deadly attack by a pack of free-ranging dogs.
At approximately 6:30 a.m. Nov. 10, a pack of dogs broke into the pasture at Macedo’s Mini Acre and attacked the farm’s alpaca and llama herds.
“The result is devasting,” said Maureen Macedo. “Right now we have 11 dead alpacas and one dead llama as a result of this rampage.”
Macedo said she and her husband saw a group of at least six dogs. They chased the pack away, but they returned at around 4 a.m. on Nov. 11.
Before the attack, the Macedos had a total of 82 alpacas and llamas at the farm located at 11175 Gold Link Road, just south of Turlock over the Merced County line. They are treating the injured animals at the farm, but for their safety, moved the uninjured animals to a friend’s farm in Madera.
Maureen said that this is the first time she and her husband have had a problem with wild dogs in the 12 years that the farm has been located on Gold Link Road or the 20 years total they have been raising alpacas.
“(The pack of dogs) literally broke a gate in the back of our property and came in…they hurt us and took off. So we sat vigil for about three days, and the pack never got close enough for us to do anything with,” she said.
Merced County animal control has since caught two of the dogs.
“Our animal control officers are working diligently to locate and trap the dogs,” said Deputy Michael Domingue, Merced County Sheriff public information officer.
“Packs of dogs are a nightmare,” said Macedo. “They are the number one killer of alpacas. When in a pack, they do not behave like a family pet, they chase and kill for sport.”
According to reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, domestic dogs are the second-most lethal predator of livestock, with coyotes taking the top spot. Of the 71,440 sheep lost to predator causes in 2019, dogs accounted for 33.9% of the losses, second only to coyotes at 46.9%.
For cattle and calves, a 2015 report shows dogs accounted for 11.3% of kills. Wolves killed just 4.9%.
According to a Los Angeles Times report a pack of free-roaming hounds — identified as three Labrador mixes, two Queensland blue heelers and a husky — slaughtered a herd of goats and two sheep in the community of Anza in Riverside County during the spring of 2023.
Macedo said she’s not sure if the farm can recover from the attack.
“We definitely can't keep up what we're doing at the same level, that's for sure,” she said.
A visit to the Macedo’s Mini Acres website shows a pop-up box asking if the visitor is looking to purchase an alpaca. “We are seriously downsizing and have alpacas at prices that do not reflect their quality” the site states and gives a link to a listing on openherd.com.
For the past several years, Macedo’s Mini Acres has been an active member of the area’s agri-tourism industry. The alpaca farm welcomed visitors at the end of September every year as part of the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association organized National Alpaca Farm Days to educate the public about alpacas.
The farm was also a popular choice for school and family field trips, hosted alpaca yoga sessions and paint and sip events. Macedo has said in the past that alpacas — a smaller, friendlier relative of the llama — are the perfect farm animal.
“There’s a lot of laughing. The alpacas will come up and smell you, and they’re just so calm. Sometimes they’ll just awkwardly stare at you,” said yoga instructor Stephannie Schmit in a 2019 Journal story previewing the alpaca yoga. “They roam around and bring this great energy. At the first event, a lot of people weren’t even interested in doing yoga. They just wanted to take pictures with the alpacas.”
Macedo’s passion when it comes to raising alpacas is their wool.
Macedo bought her first alpacas when her daughter, an avid knitter tired of purchasing expensive alpaca yarn, asked her to buy an animal for the wool. Macedo and her daughter went a few weeks later to an alpaca ranch to pick out their first animals.
The farm has an ongoing wool and fiber shop and has offered classes on fleece preparation and well as spinning classes.
Macedo’s Mini Acre will host an online holiday wool and fiber arts sale from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. today at facebook.com/macedosminiacre. Alpaca yarn, fleeces core spun rug yarn, needle felting kits, rovings, batts and dryer balls will be available.
Macedo’s Mini Acre will also be at the Pageo Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 30. Pageo Lavender Farm is located at 11573 Gold Rd., Turlock.
