The owner of an alpaca facing execution by the Government has vowed to kill him herself if he tests positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) one last time.
Geronimo, a six-year-old alpaca from New Zealand who lives on a South Gloucestershire farm, tested positive for bTB twice in 2017.
Under British law, animals with bTB have to be put down because the disease is extremely contagious and can demolish large herds of cows.
Owner Helen Macdonald has spent years fighting the results, insisting the tests had picked up antibodies from the tuberculin vaccine and that he did not have the disease – but the courts ordered his death.
Helen, 50, is so confident Geronimo does not have the infectious disease, she is now putting her money where her mouth is and has vowed to kill her beloved animal herself if he tests positive for again.
The alpaca breeder insisted Geronimo would be ‘dead by now’ if he genuinely had the disease.
She said: ‘All I am asking is for Geronimo to be given a valid test. If it comes back positive then I would not stand in their way.
‘In fact, if he was given a valid test which proved he actually had the disease then I would kill him myself.
‘Geronimo has never tested positive for bTB. He had anti-bodies after taking the vaccine tuberculin which is exactly what you would expect to happen.
‘The science was dodgy. The Government do not want to admit that they have to investigate why alpaca’s react differently to tuberculin.
‘It is more convenient for them to stand by a test which only proved he had anti-bodies to the disease.
‘If he had been infected with TB in 2017 then he would be dead by now. It’s a horrible disease and animals only last a few months when they are infected.
‘Why should I let them [the Government] kill a perfectly healthy animal?
‘All we are asking is for the Government to think again. They don’t have to activate the warrant [to destroy Geronimo]. There is another way to solve this.’
Helen has been pleading with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to re-test Geronimo since 2017 – but this was refused in 2019.
Helen has tried to challenge this decision at the High Court but she lost on Thursday and was told to have Geronimo euthanised within 30 days.
If she does not do this, Defra are allowed to send someone to the farm in Wickar to shoot Geronimo dead.
Helen thought her worst fears had come true on Friday when two police officers showed up at her farm.
But the cops said they were just on a ‘recce mission’.
She said: ‘We don’t know when or even if they will come. We haven’t been told anything and Defra won’t speak to us.
‘We are under siege and spend hours watching the gate in case they arrive.’
The veterinary nurse has even pleaded with Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds, who said they ‘sympathise’ but have not yet stepped in.
Animal rights activists will march on Downing Street this weekend to demand the stud is kept alive, after celebrity supporters Chris Packham and Joanna Lumley offered their support.
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