AUGUSTA – Prompted by the fatal shooting of a llama last fall, the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee is being asked to expand the state’s definition of livestock to accommodate the many exotic breeds of animals now being raised, both for fun and profit, around the state.

The legislation was prompted by the killing of a bred llama in Edgecomb. After the incident, fish and game and agriculture officials scrambled to determine whose laws pertained to the shooting – hunting violations or animal cruelty laws.

The problem, according to Jon Olson of the Maine Farm Bureau, is that “the Department of Agriculture encourages farmers to diversify, and, once they do, they are no longer farmers” under the Maine law definitions.

In the Edgecomb incident, Olson said, “it became a clear question of who had the authority.”

If the law is passed, any law enforcement agency can be called to handle such an incident, instead of game wardens.

There are nearly 50 llama farms in Maine, according to the Maine Llama Association, and many more farmers who raise other exotic animals, such as emus and ostriches. Some sheep farmers also keep several llamas with their herds as guardians.

Gary Balducci is a small, diversified farmer who lives in a rural area on Route 27 in Edgecomb, a coastal town in Lincoln County.

While working on a building across the street from his llama pasture last fall, he said, he heard a gunshot and saw a man standing by his pickup truck alongside the road by his pasture.

Balducci said he warned the man that he was too close to the road and that there were animals in the field. He said the man rudely replied, “I’ve been hunting for 40 years. Go mind your own business.”

Balducci said he backed off but took down the license plate of the vehicle and called the Sheriff’s Department. He then heard another shot and the truck left.

While waiting for a deputy to arrive, Balducci called his llamas and one failed to return.

Heading into the field, he discovered an adult female, believed to be bred, and worth about $2,600, shot dead.

“This was a solid black llama,” said Balducci. “There is no way anyone could have mistaken it for a deer. Especially when that man had a scope on his gun.”

The man accused in the shooting will make his first appearance in court on Feb. 5 on animal cruelty charges.

“There was so much confusion afterwards about who had the authority to charge this man and what the charges would be that I recognized that changes in legislation were clearly needed,” said Balducci.

“No one would commit or take responsibility [for prosecution],” he said. “I let everyone hunt on my land that asks permission. This was just such a sad thing.”

Balducci said that by listing llamas, bison and other exotic animals as livestock, “there are benefits to be considered under agriculture rather than wildlife. The regulations are easier to follow and more suited to our animals.”

The legislation amends livestock definitions in three current state laws to include alpacas, bison, llamas, ostriches, and exotic wildlife raised on farms along with the existing list that includes all cattle, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits, domesticated deer and equines.

The bill will be heard before the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 10.