Kolby, a 20-year-old llama who makes her home in Fairfax County, has been reunited with her owner after a Yuletide adventure that saw her picked up by Fairfax’s Animal Protection Police Sunday night.
The APP officers found Kolby on the Fairfax County Parkway near the intersection of Popes Head Road late on Sunday, says Reasa Currier, the director of the Fairfax County Department of Animal Sheltering. The Fairfax County Animal Shelter is where the even-toed ungulate ended up. ” I don’t know if they’ve received special llama training but they are trained in all kinds of livestock,” Currier says of the county’s Animal Protection Police. After a positive veterinary examination, the shelter began searching for Kolby’s home.
That search included posting on social media, including a rather popular tweet Tuesday, which helped Kolby’s owner find out where his llama had gone. The owner, who Currier says lives nearby, was “eager to be reunited with his llama.” Kolby had escaped from her shelter after being frightened Sunday night, the owner explained. (Washingtonian has called the owner for comment and, in the grand tradition of llama reporting, will update this post when we know more.) “We were thrilled to be able to reunite them today,” Currier says.
Are you missing a LLAMA? We have a stray llama, who was rescued after being spotted running on the Fairfax County Parkway near Popes Head Road. Do you know this llama's family? Send them our way!🦙 pic.twitter.com/S8zof92ZGM
— Fairfax Animals (@fairfaxanimals) December 20, 2022
Llamas, once-fashionable animals whose appeal has grown more selective in recent years, are classified as livestock in Fairfax and are may be kept as long as an owner’s lot meets certain size requirements.
The shelter has a small barn and a chicken coop, says Currier, for unexpected visits from animals outside the usual suspects. “This is our first llama at the shelter,” she notes, but the staff were prepared for an herbivore camelid and had plenty of hay and straw on hand. “This job,” she says. “You learn something every single day.”
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
