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Sands and
Paul Bellizzi:
Alpacas? If the word makes you think of a soft, luxurious, Gatsby-era overcoat, you are on the right track. Alpacas, cousins of llamas, produce a fine cashmere-like fleece, once reserved for Incan royalty. Five times warmer than sheep’s wool, alpaca fiber has no lanolin, and is very strong. Domesticated for some 6,000 years in South America, alpacas are once again being actively bred in North America and elsewhere. Got some land, a yen for your own spread and livestock, and $55,000 ? That’s about what you will need to get started, according to the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA). For Sands Bellizzi, the idea of becoming an alpaca rancher lay dormant for nearly ten years. Then, on a trip to the Gold Country of Northern California for a travel show, she began to think seriously of moving from crowded Orange County to a slower-paced life in the country. "Due to its proximity to major population areas, seasonal tourist population, and the type of terrain we value -- rolling hills with oaks and pine along the ridgelines," Grass Valley seemed ideal. When she broached the subject, her husband Paul, a self-employed handyman, did not hesitate: "How soon can we go and what will we do?" The answer suddenly seemed obvious: "We’ll raise alpacas!" Their Big Move Updated Today, after relocating The Alpaca Mining Company to an 18+ acre ranch in Yerington, Nevada, Sands Bellizzi reports: "When we first decided to do this, Alpaca ownership was relatively rare. Since that time and the advent of many 'I Love Alpaca' ads on cable television, plus several television shows, including our own segment of the 'Radical Sabbatical' Show on the FineLiving Channel, more and more people are aware of this finely fibered animal and its impact on a new and very viable fiber industry in the U.S." The Bellizzis have accomplished the goal of a more relaxed and unhurried lifestyle. "We both felt that our small acreage in the historic Gold Country of Northern California was so beautiful it felt like being on vacation." However, it was "the realization that raising alpacas would be the perfect financial facilitator to enable us to make this huge change in our lives," that tipped the scale.
"We chose The Alpaca Mining Company as our breeder name because gold was mined in this area for many years. We believe we have discovered our golden future on a small piece of land and these wondrous animals." Bye-bye 'Day Job' At first, Sands and Paul intended to keep their 'day jobs' for four or five years or "the amount of time [needed for us to grow our original 2 pregnant female alpaca purchase to a point where we could live off the income the herd growth would produce. However, on February 29, 2000, after only 1 1/2 years, I was able to close the doors to my travel sales representation company. Paul continued to work part time for about another year, but now the alpacas provide us with our total income. We live as debt free as possible, simply, and each year becomes our best year ever in the alpaca industry. We act as brokers for many alpaca farms and last year we sold in excess of 100 animals. "Our first impression of the alpaca industry was that income would come solely from the sale of our own alpacas, plus income from the sale of fiber. But when a friend showed an interest in purchasing a couple of starter 'boys' to 'test the waters,' I offered to help. I located a couple of nice males for her, realizing a brokerage fee for my efforts." The Alpaca Mining Company has also diversified into boarding alpaca. "If you have always wanted to be a country girl or country dude, you can have your home in the country and realize the financial benefits of alpaca investment," Sands says. But there are other even more important benefits In September of 1999, Sands was diagnosed with an indolent form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. "I thank my lucky stars that I no longer need to earn a living traveling the world [which is] hard on the human body and immune system. I give a tremendous amount of credit for my continued health without cancer treatment to our life with the alpacas and living simply and healthily on our small acreage." Next Steps Paul & Sands Bellizzi Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association
(U.S.) Northern Maine Alpaca Association Copyright 2006 2Young2Retire.com, All Rights Reserved
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"Around 1985, I chanced upon a short feature on alpaca ranching on the Today
Show," recalls Sands Bellizzi, 59 former sales representative specializing in safaris
and adventure travel, and no stranger to adventure herself. She was "so taken with
the wonderful nature of the animals and potential financial rewards of breeding them, that
I walked into the office of my boss and said ‘Let’s quit our jobs and raise
alpacas.’" 
"Our herd
of alpacas has grown considerably from the initial two pregnant females we purchased, and
I am sure that if you asked Paul about our 'vacation,' he would now reply that there is
real work involved…shovel of alpaca poop (black gold, organic manure) by shovel.