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Staff photo by Gary Stelzer
Jeff Pergram shovels dirt into the grave of Masterpiece the alpaca Monday, March 8, in Madison Twp. The 3-month-old alpaca was beaten to death early last month.
Slain alpaca buried as family, neighbors grieve
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‘Just a pet? He was part of the family’
By Rick McCrabb,
Columnist
Updated 10:56 AM Tuesday, March 9, 2010
MADISON TWP. — He was 3 months old.
He weighed 47 pounds.
And only a few knew his name.
But in this hoop-crazed community — Madison High School’s boys and girls basketball teams are undefeated and positioned for possible dual state championships — Masterpiece, an alpaca, is stealing the show.
On Monday, March 8, motorists along windy Browns Run Road — typically a high-speed area — slowed as they approached the small alpaca farm owned by Jeff Pergram and Rebecca Hardin.
Some even rolled down their windows, pointed their camera phones and snapped pictures of the three alpacas — Star, 12; Jewell, 5; and Gemstone, 6 months.
Masterpiece was missing from the family portrait. This community was shocked when news spread last month that Masterpiece was stolen and beaten to death.
Two 17-year-old boys and a 22-year-old woman face felony charges accusing them of theft and the beating of Masterpiece, valued at $8,000, according to Butler County Sheriff’s detectives. Alpacas, native to South America, are prized for their fleece.
In response to the incident, a Madison senior is spearheading fundraising efforts, an elementary student placed a “We Love and Miss You Masterpiece” sign near where the alpaca was taken, and a local woman dropped off a teddy bear in a metal basket at an impromptu memorial.
Hardin and Pergam have received sympathy cards and donations as far away as Wyoming. Stories on Masterpiece have appeared on CNN and in The New York Times.
On Monday, Hardin and Pergram drove to Ohio State University in Columbus — where a necropsy was performed on Masterpiece — and picked up his remains in a four-foot white cardboard box.
“We have good memories,” he said as he shoveled dirt over Masterpiece’s cardboard casket.
Masterpiece was buried near the driveway, just a few feet from where his mother watched.
Two neighbors, Ellen Murphy and Ginny Sears, stopped by and said the community is outraged by the brutal attack against Masterpiece.
“I’m to the point where I’m beginning to feel for animals more than people,” Murphy said. “There’s no need to be so cruel.”
“I think about him, but then I try not to think about him,” Hardin said. “He was really friendly and he’d come right up to you.”
When asked if she considered Masterpiece a pet, she shot back: “Just a pet? He was part of the family. We loved him that much.”
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