Geronimo the alpaca is killed after four-year battle to save him fails
Geronimo the alpaca has been put down by government officials after his owner said he was forcibly removed from his home in Gloucestershire to the distress of his owners and supporters.
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Photograph: Claire Hayhurst/PA
The animal, who had tested positive twice for bovine tuberculosis and whose fate has divided the nation, was taken from the farm, near Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, on Tuesday by a team of four vets from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and at least 10 police officers, who had closed the roads around the farm preventing media from coming nearer to the property.
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Witnesses – supporters of Geronimo known as the Alpaca angels – described how the animal made distressed noises as the vets placed a rope around its neck and loaded it on to a horsebox and drove him away.
His immediate fate was not initially clear but Defra confirmed Geronimo had been euthanised by staff
from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) as a “necessary measure to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB)”.
Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: “This is a terribly sad situation and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this devastating disease. No one wants to have to cull infected animals if it can be avoided, but we need to follow the scientific evidence and cull animals that have tested positive for bTB to minimise spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country.
© Photograph: Claire Hayhurst/PA
Workers, who arrived with a police escort, surround Geronimo the alpaca at Shepherds Close Farm.
“Not only is this essential to protect the livelihoods of our farming industry and rural communities, but it is also necessary avoid more TB cases in humans.”
Video: Geronimo the alpaca: Owner says government ‘just wants to kill him’ (Sky News)
Defra said a postmortem examination will now be carried out by veterinary pathologists from the Apha, followed by a bacteriological culture of selected tissue samples, which can take up to three months to process.
Geronimo owner, Helen Macdonald, a veterinary nurse, said the regime was flawed and the eight-year-old alpaca was perfectly healthy.
Speaking at the farm before a large banner reading “We are Geronimo”, Macdonald told reporters the alpaca was taken “forcibly”.
“Over the last two weeks we have tried to engage constructively, persistently with George Eustice, Lord Benyon, George Eustice’s special advisers, senior Defra civil servants and multiple MPs and government scientists, proposing a different way forward that would enable to the government to address their stated priorities in tackling bovine tuberculosis and also save Geronimo’s life.
“The government have refused to engage in good faith.”
She went on: “Now we know they were not only ignoring our consistent please for constructive dialogue but had no intention of engaging with us. In fact all the time they were simply planning to murder Geronimo.”
Macdonald fought the decision in the courts and pleaded with the UK government to allow him to be retested, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition calling for the camelid to be spared and a “human shield” of animal lovers stationing themselves around Geronimo’s pen in south Gloucestershire.
But after a high court judge once again ruled against Macdonald, the government said Geronimo had to be culled.
It came days before the destruction warrant for Geronimo ends on 4 September.
Avon and Somerset police said earlier: “We can confirm officers are in attendance at a farm in the Wickwar area of South Gloucestershire this morning to support the Animal and Plant Health Agency, who are executing a court warrant.
“We’ll always support our partner agencies to carry out their lawful duties, and our role is to prevent a breach of the peace and to ensure public safety is protected.”
Source: Thanks msn.com