“Absolutely heartbreaking”: Geronimo the alpaca put down amid public outcry
A British alpaca named Geronimo has been put down after making headlines around the world as supporters battled to overturn a court warrant for his death.
The court issued a warrant for Geronimo to be put down after the alpaca returned a positive test result for bovine tuberculosis.
Geronimo was put down on Wednesday at his owner’s Gloucestershire farm by vets, after the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed he had tested positive a second time.
Helen MacDonal, Geronimo’s owner, had previously told A Current Affair that she didn’t believe her eight-year-old alpaca had the disease.
The 50-year-old went on to say the decision to put him down was “absolutely heartbreaking”.
“They are assassinating him, it’s like an execution and there’s no foundation that’s the horror of it,” Ms MacDonald said at the time.
National disgrace #geronimo pic.twitter.com/8jHjysF9Zn
— dominic dyer (@domdyer70) August 31, 2021
Geronimo was born in Australia and grew up in New Zealand, where tested negative to the disease prior to Helen importing him to her farm.
However, he was tested once again upon arrival to the UK in 2017, where he received two positive results.
Ms MacDonald, a veterinary nurse, appealed to Defra to allow Geronimo to take a third test or allow him to live to help with research into the disease.
She argued that the test was flawed and that he had previously tested positive because of repeated priming with a purified protein derivative of bovine tuberculosis bacteria called tuberculin.
In a last-ditch effort to save the animal, Ms MacDonald took her case to the High Court.
However, she lost on August 18, with the court issuing a warrant giving Defra until September 4 to euthanise Geronimo.
More than 140,000 people have signed a petition to save the alpaca, while Ms MacDonald has invested over $100,000 in the cause.
Protestors took to the streets in early August to demonstrate against the ruling, with about 30 campaigners marching from Defra’s headquarters to Number 10 Downing Street.
Image: Getty Images
Supporters camped out at the farm to try to prevent officials from arriving to kill the alpaca, and some were seen talking to police as the animal was taken away.
One woman was briefly arrested after spraying officers with a water pistol, but was soon de-arrested.
Image: Getty Images
Ms MacDonald also set up a webcam over Geronimo’s paddock so that everyone could see what happened to him.
“Everyone should be behind this little guy because he stands for justice and accountability,” Ms MacDonald said.
Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said it was a “terribly sad situation” but that culling animals that tested positive for bovine tuberculosis was crucial to minimise its spread.
“Not only is it essential to protect the livelihoods of our farming industry and rural communities, but it is also necessary to avoid more TB cases in humans,” she said.
“No-one wants to have cull infected animals if it can be avoided.”
A Defra spokesperson said a post-mortem examination would be carried out by veterinary pathologists, as well as a study of tissue samples, with the process taking up to three months.
Image: Dominic Dyer / Twitter