On the 27th October in Canberra at the Australian Alpaca Association's National Show & Sale, PAR a new Australian invention was launched.

Taspar Industries of Longford Tasmania are manufacturing PAR, a portable animal restraint invented specifically to hold animals for shearing and veterinary purposes.

PAR has been trialled very successfully and perfected in Tasmania over the last 4 years shearing alpacas.

Designed and built primarily for holding alpacas, it has also been used to hold large rams for shearing.

The owners of these animals have all been very impressed with the restraint. Most all comment on how animal friendly it is and how calm and unaffected the animals are when released.

As it's name suggests PAR is portable and can be transported in a trailer, on the back of a ute and even in the back of your station wagon. It weighs 47kg but as it is assembled in 4 main parts can be lifted by any user.

Assembly time is approximately 1 minute and no tools are needed.

In the shearing shed it can be used on both a raised board or a standard board.

It is designed to be used on any flat surface and no anchor points are required.

Therefore if you have an animal that needs attention in the paddock just throw a tarp down and assemble PAR on it.

Some of the advantages the PAR Portable Animal Restraint has over the existing methods used for shearing alpacas:

1. Quick and easy to set up and dismantle
2. Quick and easy restraint and release method
3. Animal friendly floating movement when anima is required to be removed
4. No need to tie off ropes and no chance of restraint coming loose whilst shearing
5. Free standing - no anchor point required
6. Allows for 1 hand to be free to manoeuvre animals
7. Gives shearer freedom to move, no need for them to physical hold animals
8. 3 size setting allowing for small, medium and large animals or to use in confined areas
9. Easy to transport and store away when not in use
10. Maintenance free
11. Provides exact tension and correct placement of animals
12. Solid and sturdy to use
13. Power lead is over head and away from work area
14. No reaching across table tops or platforms
15. Alpacas remain on one level whilst shearing
16. Fleece is removed in one main section
17. Simple sweep of the floor to clean work area after shearing
18. Many different uses not just shearing
19. Trialled for 4 years without any broken or worn pieces.