Welcome to Little Hamlet Alpacas
Hello there, my name is Dianne, and I welcome you to my website and the wonderful world of Alpacas.
I came across these amazing animals whilst in the U.S.A. I had never seen an alpaca before and knew nothing about them. I was captivated, and enchanted by them. Just looking at them gave me a feeling of peace and contentment. It is difficult to put into words but there was something about them I couldn’t explain but I knew I wanted to share my life with these animals. In 2004, I sold everything I had and one year later Little Hamlet Alpacas located in Cornwall began. I purchased 3 pregnant females and 3 boys and started to live the life I had always dreamt of.
By 2008 I had built up my herd to 19 all of them my beloved pets but later that year I lost half of them to bovine tb a common disease that affects alpacas which not only devastated me but left my fields empty and an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Then in 2010 the RSPCA asked me to take in a severely neglected herd of 6 alpacas. I agreed and despite it being incredibly hard work, new life was brought back on to my farm and my rescue work began. I have since then rehomed over 400 alpacas to kind and loving forever new homes. These cases range from people who no longer want to look after their alpacas, through to grossly neglected alpacas brought here by the RSPCA ETC. Despite all the heartache, the pleasure they have given me cannot be put into words. The loss of my beloved alpacas to Bovine Tb made way to help other Alpacas that were and still are in need of help.
As you can see a lot has happened since 2004 and my journey so far has had many ups and downs but I have gained a vast amount of knowledge and 16 years’ experience and I get great satisfaction helping fellow alpaca owners who experience problems and advising those who are considering owning alpacas on the right way to care for these animals. In 2009 I was awarded the Felip Benevides Trophy for my work on Alpaca Welfare and in 2012 Animal Health and Defra contracted me to train their Animal Health Officers on all aspects of Alpaca Care, Behaviour, Welfare, Handling and Husbandry. I still work closely with them today.
Sadly alpacas are being miss-sold by many unscrupulous breeders who put financial gain before the welfare of the animals. They are promoted as easy to look after and that they do not need any special care which isn’t true and because of this there is an increase in unwanted and neglected alpacas. To learn what alpacas need click here WHAT ALPACAS NEED/ALPACA CARE.
I now have 15 resident rescue alpacas all of which have a forever home here, all of them totally different, with different personalities and quirks but all beautiful, hilarious and magical. They are very curious animals, highly intelligent, protective of their young and of each other. They are a herd animal always in a pack and must never be kept alone. All my alpacas including the rescue cases are my pets, and I would never sell or rehome any of them - it would be like selling a member of the family.
Please consider adopting one of our rescue alpacas as a Gift or for yourself. Click here Adopt Ollie
I am not open to the general public but I welcome small groups of up to 8 people for training or to learn more about these wonderful animals. Click Here VISITS
One thing is certain: everyone that comes here goes away with a big smile on their face.