Alpaca on the lam corralled by cops

An alpaca on the loose was quickly corralled last week by two Westchester County police officers who reunited the animal with its owner. He is seen here on a patch of grass outside the village courtroom and police precinct. Photo courtesy of the Village of Mount Kisco

By MARTIN WILBUR

It was quite a scene on the streets of Mount Kisco last week.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 17, Westchester County Police received a call reporting that there was a loose llama on Kisco Avenue in the vicinity of the Land Rover dealership. 

Responding officers Nick Mirko and David Rodriguez were able to corral the animal, which turned out to be an alpaca, police said. Alpacas are in the same family as llamas and appear similar but are generally shorter.

Police said the animal was friendly and didn’t try to run when approached by Mirko and Rodriguez. It was then taken by van to the area outside the Green Street police precinct and courthouse, where it was in the custody of the officers and posed for pictures until it could be reunited with its owner. 

Deputy Village Manager Kenneth Famulare called the alpaca “a gentleman.”

Apparently, the alpaca’s handler stopped at Hotel MTK located at One Pat Reilly Way, Mount Kisco, to take a bathroom break and while he was inside, the wooly animal somehow slipped out of the trailer and started running through the streets, Famulare said.

“Someone was driving through town with an alpaca, went into the hotel to use the restroom, [and] when they came back from the restroom, the alpaca got out,” remarked Famulare.

When the alpaca was reloaded into the trailer, he was in good condition before he and the human handler were sent on their way.

Police did not release the name of the animal’s owner or what he may have been doing with the alpaca in the area. 

“We’re taking a guess here, but we think somewhere there’s a kid’s birthday party that went on just as planned,” the county police department’s Facebook post read.