edmontonsun.com
Tue March 7, 2006 www.edmontonsun.com

Cranky llama faces the boot

By SUN MEDIA

CALGARY -- A grumpy llama living in a backyard is a prime example of why Calgary needs to ban livestock from the city limits, says Animal Control boss Bill Bruce.

Bruce said the llama, known to animal officers for its cranky behaviour, will be among the first animals targeted if city council approves a rule against keeping barnyard critters as urban pets, as part of the new Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw.

"The llama may be considered a pet, but that's not a big enough yard. Animals like that need one to two acres, minimum," said Bruce, the city's chief bylaw officer. "Livestock (do) not make suitable pets for the city."

City council will debate the new bylaw next Monday, and Bruce said it won't be a case of passing a little-used rule for rare occasions. In any given year, his officers investigate up to two dozen complaints about livestock living in yards.

"We had chickens, cows, horses and goats, some of it right in the heart of where people are living," said Bruce yesterday.

The owner of the llama, which is named Preston, was nervous about attracting attention, and asked she not be named.

But her husband, Dell Sackett, described his wife's 450-pound pet as "very clean," almost totally silent and mostly gentle, but nervous around strangers.