500 lb llama and 14 goats killed by pack of dogs, owner says

HOKE COUNTY, North Carolina (KTRK) -- A North Carolina woman says a pack of dogs killed several of her goats and even a llama.

WNCN reports that Pat Belskie says this isn't the first time her neighborhood has had a problem with stray dogs, and she thinks she knows where they are coming from.

Thursday morning, Belskie woke up to an alarming phone call from her neighbor letting her know that her goats had been attacked by a pack of dogs.

"I saw my goats dotted all across the field lying there. Some of them were bleeding horribly. I could see the dogs running along that fence. My husband tried to shoot them. Didn't get them," Belskie recalled.

She immediately called neighbors Robin and Michele to try and help save some of the badly injured goats.

"I've been in combat. I've seen some horrible stuff. I felt like I was in a combat zone," stated Robin.

Belskie's 500 pound llama and 14 goats were killed, depleting her entire crop.

And then Friday, the three dogs, Pat says a black lab and two smaller brown dogs, returned.

"They were not strays, particularly because they weren't hungry. They were just doing this for sport," said Belskie.

Her neighbors say some of their livestock were killed by a different pack of dogs last August.

The women say they are not coyotes, and believe they were once likely pets.

"We have a lot of people from Fort Bragg that when they get deployed, don't know what to do with them. And everybody thinks, 'Oh I'll just leave them at the farm here,'" said Belskie.

The women want pet owners to know there are shelters, clinics, and options for unwanted animals.

Now they don't just worry about their livestock or their businesses, but also their safety.

"We have small kids, like my granddaughter. If they are going to attack a horse somewhere, then who knows what they are going to do," said neighbor Michele.

Police say they are aware of the situation and animal control officers set traps to try to catch the dogs.