Dead llama mystifies Oakland officials

AP/Yahoo ^ | Wed Sep 27, 9:54 PM ET

[martin_fierro]

Dead llama mystifies Oakland officials

Wed Sep 27, 9:54 PM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. - A dead llama found in the streets has left city officials wondering how the South American animal ended up abandoned in an urban area.

At first, East Oakland residents assumed the 400-pound animal with black and white spots was a horse and called the city's animal control department to report the find.

"At first it looked like a horse — all we saw was a head sticking out from a tarp," said Andrew Gordon, with Oakland's Animal Control Field Services. "But I looked at it closely, and I said, 'Look at the ears — that's a llama.' "

The llama's legs were tied up and it was covered with a tarp, but it appears to have died of old age, Gordon said.

Residents of the Oakland hills sometimes keep llamas, who are members of the camel family, as pets.

"I can't think of any reason someone would just dump it," he said. "People who have animals that good usually have money."

But Gordon said he probably wouldn't spend much time solving the mystery of the llama.

The animal doesn't seem to have suffered abuse, and since it wasn't branded he does not know where to start looking for the owners.

[martin_fierro]

There's no There there.

But there be llamas.

[Horatio Gates]

"I can't think of any reason someone would just dump it,"

I imagine getting them to flush like a goldfish would present a few problems

[Pelham]

"I can't think of any reason someone would just dump it," he said.

It's never a good idea to keep a dead llama around the house.

[RightWhale]

"I can't think of any reason someone would just dump it," he said

Contact the people who blow up dead whales.

[A knight without armor]

I read it too fast before I clicked on it. At first I thought the headline was Dali Lama Mystifies Oakland Officials.

[martin_fierro]

Ping

[dfwgator]

[Redcloak]

A llama once bit my sister.

[dfwgator]

Llamas are larger than frogs.

[socal_parrot]

Pining for the Pampas?

[LongElegantLegs]

For the uninitiated: "The Llama" on Youtube.

[dfwgator]

In another Oakland related story...

A CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND RADIOLOGICAL SURVEY TEAM was dispatched to the Oakland Raiders training facility to investigate a suspicious powder discovered during Thursday afternoon's football practice.

The alert was called off when the "mysterious white substance" was identified as the goal line.

[Slings and Arrows]

And when they found it, they sang...

[Irish_Thatcherite]

OAKLAND, Calif. - A dead llama found in the streets has left city officials wondering how the South American animal ended up abandoned in an urban area

Guest Worker Amnesty? :-P

[Richard Kimball]

Dang. He was supposed to start for the Raiders on Sunday.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Just doing the work American Camels won't do....

Wait.... there are no North American Camels! At least not any more.

(I hear they were dee-lishious!)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Just doing the work American Camels won't do....

Wait.... there are no North American Camels! At least not any more.

Might have to bring in Arab Camels............

:-P

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

They tried that in Texas.

The Comanche ate them.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

But they blamed it on the Frontier's Men...

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

They probably ate them too come to think of it. :)

There are rumors that some offspring's of the "Great American Calvary Camel Experiment" still live out in the wild areas of Texas.