A beloved alpaca has died after an unidentified motorist has been 'constantly' dumping food in the field - most recently leaving crisps, crackers, peanuts and cheese nips for the animal to gorge on.
According to Metro, the young animal suffered for 36 hours in horrendous pain before succumbing to blood poisoning after eating the junk food left behind by the driver.
The man would dump the 'inappropriate food' in a field at Creekside Animal Hospital 'several times a week', with the veterinary hospital claiming to have spoken to him on four separate occasions.
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Staff at Creekside, in Florida, are left to regularly clean up the mess left behind by the man and usually hope that it will get eaten by all the animals with no one consuming 'too much'.
Breaking the news on their Facebook page, Creekside, said: "It is with a heavy heart that we want to inform our clients and friends at the elementary school that our youngest alpaca that was born out on the shared field over a year ago has passed away.
"We have had a problem with a gentlemen in a blue car constantly dumping inappropriate food into the field several times per week. We have spoken to him on at least four different occasions.
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"This last visit, he dumped three boxes of animal crackers, one large bag of Doritos, two large boxes of cheese nips and two bags of whole peanuts. We know this because he leaves the litter behind every single time and we clean it up.
"Most of the time, we hope the food is eaten up by the herd and no one gets 'too much'. This was the first time peanuts were dumped.
"The alpacas are fed peanut hay every day and the little guy didn't know any better and he overindulged. We did everything we could for him including a blood transfusion from his father, but when alpacas suffer from endotoxemia, it is rarely something that can be fixed.
"That being said, it took its toll on us and now we are in fear for the rest of the herd, including the goats. We will likely be moving them to a new location because we have no way to protect them from this person.
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"Everyone else has been fantastic and we have appreciated all of the carrots apples, pats, questions, concerned phone calls when they sunbathe, etc. We are going to miss that little guy a lot."
Following the alpaca's death, Creekside wrote on Facebook: "We tried hard guys and we did keep him on a lot of pain medication because his belly was hurting so badly."
Following the news, people have been outraged by the animal's death, with some pleading for police action.
One said: "Sounds like a pretty solid case for animal abuse. Don't let him get away with this. Poor baby Alpaca."
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Another added: "This makes me so angry! I really hope that you can find a way to keep the beautiful animals where they and that the person responsible for this is held accountable!"
Creekside added that they didn't think the man's actions meant 'true harm' but explained: "Now an alpaca is dead from his actions."
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Creekside Animal Hospital, Fleming Island, FLTopics: Death, America, US News, Community, Animals, US