The ETHICS of
PETS By Sue Richards – Surico Alpacas NZ
Many breeders have been experiencing an upsurge in enquiries for buying alpacas, mainly as pets, over the last few months. We regularly run out of young pet males early in the season and refer prospec�ve buyers to others close by or to breeders in their area. This has sparked some interes�ng discussion and, I have heard some really good �ps about delivering a�er sales service. I like to keep in touch with people we sell to so they know they can at least give us a call if they have any problems. Shearing is always the most daun�ng problem for someone with only a few alpaca, for a start they don’t have transport, so need to have their alpacas picked up or have the shearer visit them. Any small block owner approaching us from somewhere too far for us to service, we usually refer to another breeder from that area, that I know will look a�er them.
Unfortunately, I have had a couple of phone calls from new owners recently [Feb] enquiring about shearing. On ques�oning them where they heard of me, the vendors of their very recently purchased, cheap, unshorn alpaca had kindly told them to contact us about shearing. As our shearing is done in Oct by an out of town shearer, all I can do is give them the name of a guy who shears a few and will probably cost as much as he paid for his alpacas. When we sell pets we ensure the price is enough to cover our “a�er sales follow up” or we wouldn’t s�ll be in business. We sell 3 young males 8-12 months for $1500, this allows a year back up a�er which our new owners generally know the ropes. We keep the price high enough to cover expenses and this year we haven’t had enough to fill demand. Breeders selling too cheap to cover any follow up are expec�ng others to pick it up for them is not on. The industry does not benefit from this behaviour. People buying alpacas too cheaply do not value their alpaca and o�en treat them accordingly. 16
