Jeanette Legg is keeping Cooper under close watch following the dog attack which killed two others.
By Kath Gannaway
THE viciousness of a dog attack that killed two pet alpacas and resulted in the death of another, has left their Chum Creek owners distressed and angry.
The attack took place in broad daylight on Friday, 28 May, on Tom and Jeanette Legg’s six-acre bed and breakfast property in Bridges Road.
Ms Legg said the attack happened between 10am when she saw the four alpacas in the bottom paddock, and 3pm when she went down to feed them and made the grizzly discovery.
The two older animals were lying dead in a gully, and 18-month-old Black Adder was no-where to be seen. His body was discovered, after a week of anguish, in a neighbour’s pond.
“He must have been so frightened and jumped the fence and ran into the pond and then drowned,” Ms Legg said on Monday.
“At least now we know.”
The other youngster, Cooper, somehow escaped the mauling.
It is thought the dogs came in through the back of the property which is bounded by bushland but is also close to residential areas of Chum Creek.
“It must have been a big dog or dogs, possibly hunting dogs, to have done the damage they have,” Ms Legg said.
Carlos, the larger of the two, had been attacked from behind and both had fatal bites to their throats.
In the year and a half they have had alpacas, Ms Legg said they had never seen a dog on the property.
“I am outraged that people let their dogs roam without supervision night or day,” she said.
“Not only were these alpacas our pets, they are expensive animals and totally defenceless.” The Leggs are now faced with spending thousands of dollars on dog-proof fencing to protect Cooper and any new animals safe. The Yarra Ranges Council ranger investigating the attacks had organised a letter drop to one hundred nearby residents asking that people keep an eye out for Black Adder and to warn dog owners of their responsibility for keeping dogs contained.
“It makes you wonder just what might have happened if I had gone down there when the dogs were there, and about what they are capable of doing not just to animals, but to people. It just makes me so angry and sad that my two pets have had to endure such an attack.”
