Victorian Farmer Saves 27 Animals Despite Losing Home to Fire

When Rita Soares returned to her burned property in Harcourt, Victoria, she found no gate to open, no fences standing, and a melted livestock trailer where it once stood. But 27 of her beloved animals had survived the blaze that swept through her farm 35 kilometers south of Bendigo.

The shepherd and her husband Anthony Crane evacuated Friday afternoon as fires erupted across the region. Two llamas died in the flames, and nine more had to be euthanized due to severe injuries, leaving Rita with just two female llamas from her original herd of 13.

All 25 alpacas made it through. Rita credits her eight years of working closely with the animals for knowing exactly how to protect them when disaster struck.

"Everything was burnt," Rita said of her return home Sunday. "The immediate thing I thought was what my animals must have gone through."

Her house partially survived, but intense smoke damage means she and Anthony cannot sleep there. The property has no power or running water, forcing the couple to commute daily to care for their herd while staying elsewhere.

Sunny's Take

Rita's priority reveals everything about her character. While insurance assessors evaluate her home and she waits to learn what will be covered, she spends her days ensuring her surviving animals have fresh lucerne hay, clean water, and constant monitoring for injuries.

"Now the animals have got water and food, and once their wounds heal, then we can focus on the house," she explained.

The community has rallied around Campo Verde Alpacas and Llamas. Local businesses and neighbors have donated fodder to keep the herd fed while Rita rebuilds temporary fencing to contain the animals away from the worst burned areas.

For Rita, the animals represent far more than a business she and Anthony started when they left Melbourne eight years ago. "The alpacas, they've been my therapists, a family that I've never had," she said. "I think the reason I'm still alive is because of my animals."

That deep connection explains why she told reporters she would have traded her house to save the 11 llamas lost to the fire. But it also explains her resilience as she faces the mountain of work ahead.

As Rita tends to healing wounds and watches her animals adjust to their changed landscape, she draws strength from the same source that brought her to farming in the first place: the peaceful presence of creatures who depend on her as much as she depends on them.