I won’t do Defra’s dirty work and kill my Geronimo
Still defiant, owner of TB row alpaca
THE owner of Geronimo the alpaca has refused to do the Government’s work for it by putting down the animal herself.
Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have not said when they plan to destroy the eight-year-old, adding to what his owner Helen Macdonald calls her ‘mental torture’.
An assurance that Geronimo, who is suspected of being infected with bovine tuberculosis, would not be killed by the Government expired yesterday at 5pm, meaning he is now entirely without protection.
It had apparently been given in the hope that Miss Macdonald, 50, of Wickwar, near Bristol, would arrange the animal’s destruction herself – an idea which she rejected with horror yesterday.
She said she felt that the Government ‘don’t know what to do, they don’t want to kill him’.
She added: ‘They want to say that I consented, and they don’t want his blood on their hands.
‘And they expect me to put down my own animal. I’m supposed to arrange his euthanasia and then say that the body will be available from X time so they can come and collect it. Well I’m just not going to do that. They want me to kill him. They’re trying to break me down. All of these extensions and faffing around is to wear down my mental state.’
She conceded that the Government had the law on its side, saying: ‘The police will let them [Defra] in, they have a warrant on access.’ She predicted that ‘they’ll probably come at some unreasonable time because they can’.
While it is thought to be unlikely that Defra vets would attempt to dispatch Geronimo over the weekend, the alpaca’s supporters are now considering increasingly radical plans to try to save him. The ‘Alpaca Angels’, along with the socalled Alpaca Liberation Front, have hinted they are considering trying to hide Geronimo among the other almost-identical members of his herd, in a strategy reminiscent of the film Spartacus.
The idea, taken from the Kubrick classic in which friends of the rebel slave all proclaim themselves to be Spartacus to foil their Roman captors, will concern Defra.
The department has been tightlipped on when it plans to execute the warrant, which is valid until September 4, after which Defra would have to go back to court to secure another one. It has also not spelt out the level of security it envisages will be needed.
But when Shambo, a sacred bull living in the Skanda Vale Temple in Wales was found to be infected with the same disease in 2007, around 20 police officers were called upon to help remove protesters trying to block his removal by Defra officials.
One Geronimo supporter, who gave his name as Graham, said he was sleeping in his car in order to try to stop the execution. He said: ‘He’s going to be murdered and you can’t stand by and watch that.’
Miss Macdonald has not advocated the use of the ‘Spartacus’ strategy or any other form of potentially illegal obstruction.
She has instead fought an unsuccessful battle through the courts, which has cost her over £40,000, not including lost income.
‘They’re trying to break me down’