The largest llama sanctuary in the country is in limbo and looking for a property to lease long-term.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/The Llama Sanctuary

The largest llama sanctuary in the country is in limbo and looking for a property to lease long-term.

Operators Lynne Milsom and David Chapman had been running The Llama Sanctuary near Chase since 2017 along with educational tours for the public on a 55-acre property on Chase-Falkland Road.

“We take in old llamas and the sick and injured ones,” Milsom said. “We rehome the healthy ones because can’t hang onto all of them.”

After being served an eviction notice in early 2022, the couple spent the summer undertaking the enormous task of moving the buildings they have built and the almost 40 camelids in their care to a temporary property in Vernon. It took weeks of travelling, dismantling, loading and unloading, and they'll have to move again.

“We do not know to this day what the problem was, the landlord didn’t give a reason,” Chapman said. “We had a property lined up and an investor but it fell through. Someone offered us a place for the sanctuary to stay where we are in Vernon but we need to be off (this property) by the end of March.

"We are in need of a forever home for the sanctuary.” 

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The pair started caring for llamas 17 years ago when they moved to northern B.C. from England.
 
“We were interested in llamas and bought some land,” Milsom said. “We made friends with someone who had llamas. We were contacted about a giant llama in need of a home so we took a trailer and picked him up.”

Milsom said soon other people in the area were phoning them, looking to re-home llamas, in part because of an increasing trend for alpacas, which are smaller, cheaper and have fibres that are easier to process for yarn.

The couple later moved to the Chase area with 14 llamas when they saw there were more llamas in the area needing rescuing.

“Llama fibre stopped being the favourite,” Milsom said. “When we decided to move we saw the same would likely happen to alpacas when the next trend came so we take them in as well.”

The Llama Sanctuary cares for 37 camelids at a temporary location in Vernon.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ The Llama Sanctuary

The couple has been able to re-home countless animals through the network they established over the years.

“At one point a llama was worth lots of money but after two decades the market was saturated,” Chapman said. “They were being given away or set free in the forest. There were llamas entering people’s properties in the Chase area raiding farms and gardens in order to stay alive.”

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Milsom said llamas are surrendered for a wide variety of reasons or come through referrals from BC SPCA as the sanctuary is accredited with them.

The perfect property for the sanctuary would be about 80 acres with some trees and access to water so they can rotate pastures and create a parkland environment for the camelids, ideally in Lumby or the Shuswap areas. 

“In the past we have given evacuation service for farm animals,” Chapman said. “We need space to be able to bring in a large herd.”

The couple are eager to get back to doing guided tours where the public can interact with the llamas and learn about camelids. 

“Organizations we are working with are waiting for us to get relocated,” Chapman said. “We work with care homes and groups with autistic clients. Llamas are therapeutic animals.”

The couple sells llama-related items through their online store, including items made from yarn from their woolly llamas’ coats.

Click here for more information, to shop or to donate to The Llama Sanctuary.

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