Geronimo news: Owner ‘disgusted’ by ‘barbaric’ killing of alpaca by government vets

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Moment police lead Geronimo the alpaca away to be executed

The owner of Geronimo, an alpaca who was put down this morning following a years-long legal battle over positive bovine tuberculosis test results, has hit out the government for failing to “engage” with campaigners who pleaded for his life to be spared.

“I’m absolutely disgusted by this government. They know that they set him up four years ago with incompetence and bullying and a falsified test that has no validity and yet [here] we are this morning, Geronimo has been manhandled out of my farm,” Helen Macdonald told the media from her South Gloucestershire residence.

“These are barbaric actions of unscientific, abusive people in government and tax payers are paying for this.”

In a statement, released earlier, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed: “bTB-positive alpaca known as ‘Geronimo’ has been euthanised to prevent the spread of disease.”

It came a short time after Defra officials, accompanied by Avon and Somerset Police, arrived at Ms Macdonald’s farm wearing head-to-toe protection in Wickwar, near Bristol, to take the animal away.

After dramatic scenes in which he was seen running away and being dragged back by officers, Geronimo was eventually loaded into a trailer and driven to an undisclosed location where he was euthanised by staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

Key points

• Owner ‘disgusted’ by government’s ‘murder’ of alpaca
• Why Geronimo the alpaca was killed
• PM sends ‘sympathies’ to animal’s owner
• ‘Defra will regret slaughtering Geronimo,’ warns vet
• Campaigners stand by theory alpaca did not have bovine TB
• Woman arrested and then de-arrested at Geronimo removal

[31 August 2021 15:07 · Sam Hancock]

Campaigners stand by theory Geronimo did not have bovine TB

As well as alpacas, badgers have been a victim of the fight against bovine tuberculosis (bTB), with mass culling employed to stop the spread since 2013, sparking a huge public backlash.

Earlier, the Badger Trust said it was “saddened to hear of the killing of Geronimo the alpaca”.

“We, like those who protested, campaigned and attempted to protect Geronimo, will not be surprised when the final bTB test comes back negative,” the animal welfare charity added.

Speaking at the farm where Geronimo was removed earlier today, before being put down, campaigner Spike Collett, 66, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, insisted that Geronimo was not infected with the disease.

“If that animal had TB four years ago it would have died,” Mr Collett told the PA news agency.

“The alpacas here were absolutely frantic, scared stiff and petrified today. They put so much stress on that animal it is a wonder it didn’t have a heart attack. If it had been ill, it would have done.”

Separately, a nurse also present at the farm told the BBC the rules around bTB were “for cows”, not alpacas, making the “barbaric removal all the more worse”.

Helen Macdonald, Geronimo’s owner, has argued that the Enferplex bTB test is fundamentally flawed and says the alpaca tested positive because he had repeatedly been primed with tuberculin - a purified protein derivative of bovine TB bacteria.

Government-appointed vet officials will carry out a post-mortem later this week.

Geronimo is forced into a van this morning by police officers and Defra officials (Tom Wren / SWNS)

[31 August 2021 15:38 · Sam Hancock]

Why was Geronimo the alpaca killed by government vets?

Geronimo the alpaca was taken from his Gloucestershire farm on Tuesday and killed following a four-year legal battle and campaign by the animal’s owner.

The alpaca, brought to England from New Zealand in 2017, twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, a lung disease that can spread easily through animals. As a result, the government said the animal had to be put down.

Helen Macdonald, Geronimo’s owner, disputed the test results and mounted several high court legal challenges against the government.

So, why did police move in and go ahead with their execution order? Joe Sommerlad takes a closer look,

[31 August 2021 15:55 · Sam Hancock]

Owner demands independent witness present at Geronimo’s post-mortem

Geronimo’s owner has called for Defra to allow an independent witness at the alpaca’s post-mortem examination to confirm whether the animal had bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

On hearing that Downing Street had expressed sympathy for her, Helen Macdonald told the PA news agency: “Boris apparently is sympathetic, well I don’t need his sympathy. I needed him to stop this in its tracks when he had the opportunity and look what’s happened.

“They’ve decided to take death at all costs instead of learning and science. They all should be out of a job.”

She continued: “Taxpayers have paid for today’s attempt to kill a perfectly healthy animal because they haven’t got the courage or the integrity to do the right thing.

“It’s not my fault they’ve got endemic TB in England. They haven’t done anything with it for decades. He came from New Zealand, he was perfectly healthy and they misused the test.”

Earlier, officials said the government’s post-mortem would take place before the end of the week.

[31 August 2021 15:59 · Sam Hancock]

That’s it from us on the Geronimo live blog for today, thanks for following along. Continue to check The Independent’s homepage for the latest updates.