Police round up herd of escaped alpacas in Massachusetts

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Police in Massachusetts responded to an unusual call to help round up nine alpacas that escaped from their farm and wandered a neighborhood.

David and Janice Ciszkowski said nine of their 12 alpacas escaped from their Happy Snowman Alpaca Farm in Attleboro on Tuesday.

"How did they get free? Because somebody didn't close the gate and that was me!" David Ciszkowski told WHDH-TV.

Ciszkowski said he had moved a tractor from the gated area when he forgot to shut the opening behind him. He said he looked up after a few minutes to see the alpacas fleeing.

"I was trying to get them out of the way, but I guess I got them out of the way too far," Ciszkowski said.

Ciszkowski set out to find the wandering animals.

"I was driving around looking for them when I thought I better call Attleboro police and just let them know," Ciszkowski told The Sun Chronicle newspaper. "They said, 'Yeah, they're on Metacommett Drive.'"

Janice Ciszkowski rushed home from work to help search.

"I was worried about them getting hit in the road," she said. "But the couple of times they did cross the road, the traffic stopped, so I'm very thankful for that."

David Ciszkowski arrived on the scene to find Attleboro Police Officers Laura Sylvester and Karl Williams rounding up the alpacas alongside animal control officers.

The officers, with help from the public, were able to corner the alpacas in a fenced-in yard and arrange for them to be transported home.

The owners said they have been keeping alpacas since 2015.

"This was the first time in 2 1/2 years this has happened," David Ciszkowski said. "This was the biggest surprise of all."

"They're good animals -- if you remember to close the gates," he said.