Lost Haalrem Alpaca doing well; Stop calling to adopt him says police

An investigation into an alpaca found wandering the streets of Haarlem late Tuesday night is ongoing, but authorities have asked the public to stop calling them with requests to take the animal off their hands and provide it foster care. After the Haarlem police's tweet asking for tips or information regarding the alpaca, which has since been named "Teddy," police said they received so many calls from citizens wanting to adopt the animal they were forced to post another message asking the public to stop contacting them.

"Request that you not call if you have interest in the alpaca," Haarlem police said. A police report said the alpaca was taken to Amsterdam, where mounted police have a training facility. The animal was then transported to an alpaca farm in Sassenheim, Zuid-Holland while the investigation continued.

"The police have visited several petting zoos, and also a circus. But none of them is lacking an alpaca," police added. The police animal unit for Noord-Holland was still hopeful that either the owner, someone who knows the owner, or a witness relevant to the case would come forward and contact them.

"Teddy is doing just fine", Bert de Mooij from the alpaca-farm Klinkenberg told broadcaster Omroep West. He assured that the animal was not negatively affected by the incident. "The most important thing is that it is now back with a partner. Alpacas should not live on their own; they will get ill. They will stop eating and eventually die".

He believes the alpaca is around seven or eight months old. The alpaca was captured in Haarlem's historic city center, between the Grote Markt and the train station.

Alpaca is ondergebracht bij opslaghouder en onderzoek loopt. Verzoek NIET te bellen als u interesse heeft in de alpaca.

— Politie Haarlem (@POL_Haarlem) January 3, 2018