We have some very sad news to share: our new alpaca Chewy has passed away and we are devastated. He was already beloved by all the lambs of Kody's Flock, along with his alpaca friends, and is now their guardian angel. We had to wait for tests to find out what happened, but the results showed he had high levels of copper in his blood, and they'd been there for some time, meaning he likely ingested something with copper where he lived before. This also means that our other two alpacas — Jar Jar and Han Solo — may face similar issues, so we're keeping a close eye on them. Because we take in animals from all kinds of places who've lived in all kinds of conditions before coming to us, things like this are unfortunately part of this work. As much as we wish we could, we can't always predict preexisting conditions, and we can't control what their lives are like before they come to our sanctuaries. We can only strive to give them the best possible lives once we've brought them home—a promise we make to every single animal who comes to The Gentle Barn. Thank you for keeping the lambs and alpacas in your thoughts and giving us a moment to grieve ❤️