Meet Annie the alpaca who thinks she's a pet dog
The two-year-old was rejected by her mother and had to be bottle-fed by her owner.
The Telegraph reports that Annie the alpaca even travels in a Vauxhall estate bought especially for her.
Two-year-old Annie was rejected by her mother and had to be bottle-fed every two hours by her owner, Dannie Burns.
Annie initially lived in Mr Burns’ house in Stirling along with three dogs and two cats – but caused too much trouble and now sleeps on the porch.
She is currently expecting her own baby and Mr Burns is not sure how she will take to motherhood, as she has rejected mixing with his herd of 75 alpacas. She instead prefers to socialise with the three Labradoodle dogs.
“Annie was rejected by her mum. She was in our house for six months, getting bottle-fed every two hours. She was eating everything – toy soldiers, ribbons, bits of plastic. She swallows them – she’s a nightmare. She sleeps on the porch now,” Mr Burns said.
“She was with us the last two Christmases but she is very naughty, she ate profiteroles and pulled lettuce out the bowl. “We are hoping she will go back with the herd once she has her baby. She wants nothing to do with the other alpacas, she hides when she sees them. “She needed bottle feeding every two hours, through the night, like a new-born.
“We bought the car because she came everywhere with us. We leave the back door open and she jumps in the back. It was one of those situations that just happened, I needed to take her everywhere with me. It was bought particularly for that.”
Standing around 4ft tall, Annie is about the same size as a St Bernard Shepherd dog. She lives on a diet of grains, barley and oats, as well as other food she scavenges.
Mr Burns’ grain bill last year was £30,000 for the entire herd and he estimates it will be closer to £36,000 this year due to the grain coming from Ukraine. Annie lives a luxurious life as a family pet and wanders around doing what she wants.
“I used to find her in the house looking out the window at the other alpacas,” Mr Burns said. “She’s got a superiority complex over other alpacas. She roams about with the dogs, and learnt to open door handles with her mouth.”
(Story source: The Telegraph)
