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Nature and EnvironmentUnited Kingdom

Geronimo the alpaca put down in England

August 31, 2021

Owner Helen Macdonald mustered support from animal rights activists and vets but her legal challenge finally failed. The government said it had to euthanize the animal after two positive tests for bovine tuberculosis.

https://p.dw.com/p/3zk1s
Geronimo the alpaca at Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire.
Despite a fight to keep Geronimo alive, vets put the animal down on TuesdayImage: Andrew Matthews/dpa/picture alliance

An alpaca called Geronimo who twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis was killed on Tuesday in the UK despite a nationwide campaign to save him by animal rights activists.

Veterinary staff backed by police arrived at owner Helen Macdonald's farm in Gloucestershire, England and led the animal away after various unsuccessful court cases to try keep the animal alive.

Why was Geronimo put down?

Geronimo the alpaca, who arrived from New Zealand in 2017, was condemned to death after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis.

The disease regularly infects livestock on British farms and forced 27,000 cattle to be culled in the country in 2020.

Geronimo's owner, Helen Macdonald, fought a number of legal battles to save Geronimo. She claimed that the two tests carried out were false positives, arguing that injecting animals with tubercolin to test their immune systems was unreliable.

Helen Macdonald (right) with Geronimo the alpaca at Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire.
Owner Helen Macdonald feeds Geronimo at her farm in Wooton Under EdgeImage: Andrew Matthews/dpa/picture alliance

Finally a High Court judge refused her lawyer's application for a temporary injunction to stop the killing.

Macdonald even managed to get almost 142,000 signatures together to save Geronimo and had animal rights campaigners protesting on her behalf in London.

After vets in blue overalls, masks and goggles from the Animal and Plant Health Agency had led away the alpaca, Macdonald accused the UK Government of having "refused to engage in good faith."

"We now know they have been stringing us along for the last week, fobbing us off by saying that people were on holiday and would get back to us this week. … In fact, all the time, they were simply planning to murder Geronimo," she said.

A protester holds up a placard outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to protest against the decision to euthanize "Geronimo."
A protester holds up a sign opposing plans to euthanize GeronimoImage: Tolga Akmen/AFP

What have the authorities said?

"It's obviously highly distressing for someone to lose animals to [bovine] TB and that's a situation that farmers sadly have to face," said a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the termination.

"This is a terribly sad situation and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this devastating disease," said U.K. Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss. "No one wants to have to cull infected animals if it can be avoided."

Veterinary staff, who arrived with a police escort, surround Geronimo the Alpaca, at Shepherds Close Farm, before the animal was taken away on a trailer to an undisclosed location, in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire.
Vets surround Geronimo before leading the animal away to his deathImage: Claire Hayhurst/AP/picture alliance

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that its tests were "highly specific and reliable" and confirmed on Tuesday the alpaca was euthanized.

"But we need to follow the scientific evidence and cull animals that have tested positive for [bovine tuberculosis] to minimize spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country,"

jc/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)