Llama drama - police, fire, council members and residents halt llama's scenic tour of city
By Kyra Hoggan
Police, fire, two city councillors and a group of residents (a total of as many as 15 people) mobilized this morning to recapture an escaped llama – that’s right, a llama.
Cocoa the llama led authorities on a merry chase through the city this morning that lasted several hours and spanned several sections of the city – and perhaps the best part of the story is that Source readers will recognize Cocoa from previous coverage. This is not her first, nor her second, but actually Cocoa’s third escape, all of which garnered media attention (see: http://castlegarsource.com/news/llamas-loose-local-lawn-13128).
Maybe it was all the practice she gained in previous attempts that allowed the repeat offender to evade authorities as they chased her through several of the city’s residential areas, beginning with the Complex parking lot and ending up in a fenced off, gated area near the airport … and taking a scenic route to get there.
“Police called me at about 6 a.m.,” said owner Bill Alexander, an Ootischenia resident who, with his 11-year-old daughter Casey, adopted Cocoa and her sister last autumn. “I don’t even know how they (police) knew to call me, but they told me they’d received reports of a llama running around Ootischenia.
“I think the wind must’ve scared her, so she jumped the fence.”
Castlegar RCMP Const. Kyle Plotnikoff said they actually got the first call at around 10 p.m. last night, and the night-duty officer, Const. Tate, had done some leg work looking for llama owners in the area.
Then another report came in at around 7 a.m.
After apparently spending a night on the town, Cocoa had wandered near the highway and was endangering both herself and gawking motorists.
“I found (the llama) up near Kinnaird Bridge,” Plotnikoff said. “I was just trying to keep her off to the side, but people kept stopping to take pictures, and I think it scared her, so she took off again.”
Alexander and his daughter caught up with Plotinikoff (who had, by this time, been joined by Animal Control Officer Rick Smith) in the area of town near the Complex, and they followed Cocoa along Columbia Avenue down past City Furniture and into the Safeway parking lot, then onto the train tracks by Fortis.
Alexander said he called the Conservation Office, but they declined to assist.
“I called in the fire department at this point,” said Plotnikoff. “It takes a lot of team work to do these things.”
Councillor Kevin Chernoff got a call from fire chief Gerry Rempel (both of whom were supposed to be attending a protective services meeting this morning), indicating the chief would be late, so Chernoff drove uptown to assist.
Meanwhile, councillor Sue Heaton was at work in the Fortis building, when, “One of the guys came in and said, ‘I just saw the strangest thing.’”
So, as Cocoa dodged across lawns (including this reporter’s, to my delight) and around vehicles through the Woodland Park area, as many as 15 people joined the chase, trying to help herd the animal to where it could be safely captured.
When Rempel was told this was the llama’s third escape attempt, he began to question the capture effort. “Obviously, she wants to live in the city,” he said.
The crowd thought they had Cocoa cornered at the site of the old Woodland Park school, but she feinted and dodged again, making her way back up to the tracks and across the Kinnaird bridge again, with a substantial group of people and vehicles in hot pursuit.
It wasn’t until she got to the airport and headed toward a fenced off, gated area down by the Finning yard and trailer court that Alexander was finally able to halter her and bring her home.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” said Alexander. “Llamas are very fast when they’re scared. I really appreciate all those people who helped out.”
Cocoa and Alexander garnered media attention last autumn, after she and her sister were found grazing in a Fruitvale backyard. An exhaustive search finally turned up the animals’ owners, who took them home, only to have them escape again.
They returned to the same Fruitvale residence, at which point the owners moved away, leaving the llamas homeless.
Bill and Casey stepped up and offered the two creatures a home, but apparently Cocoa, at least, has developed a taste for the spotlight.
Cocoa is home now, safe and sound.
