A Hertfordshire alpaca farm had to go into "shutdown" after a local hunt lost control of its dogs.
A large pack of dogs ran loose and caused distress to approximately 65 alpacas on a farm in Buntingford, according to the police.
Police were called to Fairview Farm on Saturday February 3, after receiving a report of a large pack of dogs running loose.
According to farm owner Nigel Beckwith, the loose dogs "terrorised" the alpacas, and one alpaca might lose its pregnancy, he told the Hertfordshire Mercury.
Mr Beckwith told the newspaper: “We’ve got pregnant females and one of our old girls ran into a fence and has done some damage to herself.
“A lot of these animals will probably abort or they will give birth two or three months premature.”
He added: “They terrorised the hell out of the animals."
A statement on behalf of the Puckeridge Hunt said: "While trail-hunting within the law on Saturday, regrettably it appears the scent of our trail must have drifted from where it was laid and some hounds unexpectedly entered the property belonging to the Beckwith family.
"We removed the hounds as quickly as possible and apologised immediately to Mr Beckwith for this unintended access onto his property.
"We have repeated this apology and are hopeful there will be no lasting damage to his alpaca herd however we have been very open with Mr Beckwith and requested that if there are any further concerns then he should immediately raise them with the Puckeridge Hunt.”
If you witnessed what happened and have not yet spoken to police, or have any further information that could assist officers, please call 101 quoting crime reference A5/18/67.
