A family's 'pet dog' that killed ducks and chickens has turned out to be a fox.
A dog
Maribel Soleto had purchased the animal from a shop in the Peruvian capital Lima and believed that it was a young pooch.
The animal, which the family named Run Run, played happily with other dogs at first but began angering neighbours by chasing and killing ducks and chickens.
It turned out that the pet was an Andrean fox, a species that has thin legs, a bushy tail and prominent ears.
Soleto said: "We had thought he was a purebred puppy."
She also lamented the fact that she had to pay other animal owners for the creatures that had been killed by Run Run.
Sotelo recalled: "A lady told us that it had eaten three large guinea pigs."
Walter Silva, a veterinarian and wildlife specialist at SERFOR, explained that Soleto's teenage son had likely purchased the creature from animal "traffickers" who illegally trade in Lima.