MONMOUTH – Two dogs attacked a llama Friday on a Tillson Road farm, biting the animal’s face to the bone, before the dogs were picked up by someone in a green SUV and driven away.

Authorities and the owner of the llama are seeking help in finding the dogs, their apparent owners, or the SUV.

Ivan Smith was at Snafu Acres, the farm he and his wife, Nancy, operate, when he heard Abra, the llama the couple have had since 1998, make a sound of alarm.

Two dogs, which the Smiths said appeared to be pit bulls, had the llama on the ground and were biting its face, leaving it bloody and wounded. Nancy Smith said Abra had wounds going all the way to the bone.

“He has a shelter on the farm, the dogs got into the shelter with him, and he jumped the fence of the shelter to try and get away, and they followed him into the barnyard,” she said about 5 p.m. Friday, less than an hour after the attack.

“The dogs had him down on the ground. They tried to take his face off,” she said.

The Smiths said someone in a green SUV, who they believe had been out looking for the dogs, came into the barnyard, retrieved the dogs, and left.

“The dogs were bloody, the people were in the backyard. They knew there was a problem,” said Nancy Smith, a former state representative. “They just took their dogs and left.”

Animal Control Officer Mike Costello said the SUV headed toward Winthrop. He said Ivan Smith indicated that there were two people in the vehicle but was not sure of their gender.

Police in Winthrop and Monmouth were seeking the vehicle and anyone with information about the attack or the dogs or people involved.

Costello said anyone with information may call him at 592-2939, or Monmouth police at 933-9089.

Costello said he planned to go around the neighborhood today to see whether anyone in the area recognizes descriptions of the dogs, people or vehicle. “We want to find them immediately,” Costello said.

Nancy Smith said her husband described the dogs as pit bulls, one black and white and the other a solid, bluish-tinged color.

She said the llama, which guarded poultry on the farm, was being given antibiotics, was being treated by a veterinarian, and was up and walking, but they were concerned the animal could slip into shock.

 

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