The brutal murder of three alpacas may have been triggered by a bitter planning dispute, it was claimed last night.
The three animals, which belonged to Andrew and Lesley Sapsford, were all found with blunt force traumas to the chest in a small farm hut in Buckinghamshire.
Two of the alpacas, Gabriella, 10, who was pregnant, and Pleasance, were found dead on January 6.
Ragamuffin, a four-month-old alpaca who was found with serious injuries, tragically died a day later after succumbing to his wounds.
Pleasance (left) and Ragamuffin (right) were found brutally murdered in a small farm hut in Buckinghamshire. Their deaths are being linked to a bitter planning dispute
Gabriella was also killed in the attack. The alpacas’ owners, Andrew and Lesley Sapsford, had caused friction in their local neighbourhood over plans to build a home on greenbelt farmland
The mysterious and brutal killings, which took place near Little Kingshill, disturbed nearby residents in High Wycombe.
Last night it emerged Mr and Mrs Sapsford had caused friction in their local neighbourhood over plans to build a home on greenbelt farmland.
Mrs Sapsford, 61, told The Times she feared the animals may have been slaughtered to warn them off building a three-bedroom cabin next to the alpaca field.
At first, she said she had been too upset to consider foul play, but ordered post-mortems on the animals after someone tried to steal a quad bike from the farm.
She said she was ‘absolutely devastated’ by the grizzly discovery, adding: ‘They are not farm animals to us, they are exotic pets. Every one has got a name. Every one has got a character.’
They also feared for their 80 remaining alpacas.
Mrs Sapsford, a retired health visitor, later linked the killings to an earlier break-in on November 2 – which took place on the night their contested planning application was debated by the Chiltern District Council.
Dr and Mrs Sapsford went to the meeting with their son Harry, 25, but when they returned after 90 minutes they discovered someone had been trespassing.
The mysterious and brutal killings took place near Little Kingshill (file photo)
‘When we came back someone had broken in and crow-barred an internal door that was locked. And they smashed an outdoor light,’ said Mrs Sapsford.
‘It could be a coincidence, but I don’t know. They didn’t take anything.’
Richard Bradstock, a farmer whose land adjoins the alpaca fields, said the family’s problems had started when they cleared the field of weeds and built fences to divide the pasture into paddocks for several dozen alpacas.
He told the newspaper: ‘People have been objecting ever since’, said Mr Bradstock.
‘They want it to look like the Serengeti, which is well and good. But farmland is farmland.’
And another resident, whose home overlooks the alpaca fields told Chiltern District Council the couple’s plans would ‘cause the irreversible desecration of the green belt’.
John Gladwin, a Chiltern District Councillor, dismissed claims it was tied to the request for planning and instead put it down to ‘local youths doing something stupid’.
He added: ‘I would be surprised if it is anything to do with their planning application.’
Thames Valley police said they arrested a 20-year-old man from Amersham on January 10, who has since been released ‘under investigation’.
Appealing for information, RSPCA inspector said: ‘Someone must know something. Even the smallest detail might help us.’