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The Politics of Alpacas at the General Assembly

James Preston via flickr.com / Creative Commons

Alpacas are becoming increasingly popular across Virginia, although state laws have not kept up with the trend.

Now, one lawmaker has a bill to do just that.

Senator Chap Petersen, a Democrat from Fairfax City, is asking a question that’s on the minds of many lawmakers. “What’s an alpaca. I’ve heard the name before. But it is like a camel or something?”

“It’s like a llama,” responds Delegate Brenda Pogge, a Republican from James City County. “It’s like a llama. It’s related to the llama.”

One of her constituents in James City County is a farmer whose alpaca was attacked by neighborhood dogs. The alpaca survived and is fine. But he had a hard time recovering damages from the dog owner in court.

“In the code of Virginia he could sue if an animal killed his livestock," Pogge notes. "But alpaca was not in the listing of the definition of livestock in the code of Virginia. So he lost his suit.”

The bill to declare alpaca livestock has already passed the House and Senate and is on its way to the governor’s desk.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.