Is Shearing Alpacas cruel?

No doubt you may have heard about, or even seen the video of alpaca shearing produced by PETA. While shearing is a stressful event for an alpaca, here at Sugar Hollow we use a professional shearer who takes great care to produce our harvest of fleece quickly and efficiently with as little discomfort to the alpaca as possible. Below is a youtube video of our shearer Jay Mariacher at work. Although the video was taken in 2011 it is an accurate portrayal of how he shears today. Additionally, click here for a link to an official statement from the Alpaca Owners Association which describes with much detail how NOT shearing an alpaca would be much more cruel than the 8 or so minutes of discomfort shearing causes. It contains a lot of information and is much more succinct than we could ever  be. If you are concerned about alpaca shearing please take the time to read it.