Llama drama: Cumming breeders win lawsuit

Who knew there were national standards on the subject of llama breeding? Or that a disfigured face can bring a llama to a bad end?

Jurors in Forsyth Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bagley’s courtroom know all about llama drama.

For five days this week, they heard testimony in a breach-of-contract lawsuit over the sale of two llamas by Kenneth and Katherine Smiley, owners of the well-known llama farm, Dixie Doodle, in Cumming.

Vicki Lynn Moses and her company, Second Time Around Mini Farm Inc., of Washington, Ga., had filed suit claiming that she should be refunded the $7,300 she paid the Smileys for llamas Lulu and Penny.

Lulu, Penny and Penny’s baby had to be put to sleep for wry face, a condition that includes a twisted snout and cleft palate and can leave an animal unable to eat, Moses said.

Her attorney argued that, like someone buying a defective car, Moses was entitled to a refund. The jury ruled late Friday in favor of the Smileys.

The Smileys contended that there was no breach of contract, and that they had followed accepted industry standards for llama breeders.

The Smileys’ attorney, Larry Ballew, credited the favorable verdict to “good facts,” “good law,” “great clients” and a “good, very smart and attentive jury.”

Moses had asked the jury for an award of more than $200,000.