Geronimo’s owner wants resignation

The owner of Geronimo the alpaca has called on the environment secretary to resign, accusing him of “murdering an innocent animal” days before a warrant for the animal’s destruction was due to expire.

Police officers and staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) arrived at Helen Macdonald’s farm near Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, at 10.45am yesterday.

Campaigners, who had been camped out at the property for weeks, loudly protested as the Defra staff, wearing overalls, masks and goggles, rounded up the alpaca in his enclosure.

Geronimo, who had twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, was tied with white rope before being scanned for a microchip then pulled through a field to a waiting trailer.

The trailer and police escort left the farm at 11.20am and by 12.40pm, Defra confirmed that the animal had been euthanised by staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha).

In a statement, Defra said that a warrant, which was due to expire on Saturday, had been used to seize Geronimo from the farm and euthanise him.

Ms Macdonald insists that bovine tuberculosis tests previously carried out on the alpaca returned false positives and has been campaigning for his destruction to be halted.

She had applied in writing for an independent witness to be present when a post-mortem examination was carried out on Geronimo, who came to the UK from New Zealand in 2017.

However, she posted a letter to her Twitter account that appeared to be from the government’s legal department.

This stated that Apha “was not in a position to accommodate” her request for her vet to observe the post-mortem examination “for health and safety, Covid-19 and site security reasons”.

It added: “The examination proceeded in accordance with standard operating procedures for suspected TB clinical cases and TB test-positive animals, which do not allow for the obtaining of samples for private testing”.

Ms Macdonald tweeted: “Citing Covid and security reasons are appallingly weak excuses to block an independent observer to the post-mortem of Geronimo.

“This is an immensely arrogant and blatant continuation of their mission to conceal their processes and act without transparency and fairness”.

The veterinary nurse also called on the environment secretary to resign.

She said: “I am calling for George Eustice’s resignation.

“The secretary of state has acted in bad faith, refusing to engage with us to discuss a research solution that would further the government’s very own objectives.

OUTRAGE: Helen Macdonald and Geronimo the alpaca who has now been euthanised.