UK Protesters Slam Death Sentence On Geronimo, The Alpaca

Crowds of animal rights protesters are preparing to march on Downing Street on Monday (9 p.m. on August 9, 2021) in a bid to save “Geronimo,” the alpaca, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: Geronimo, the Alpaca

Geronimo has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB), and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has ordered he be euthanized. His owner Helen Macdonald, who imported him from New Zealand, believes the tests are returning false positives, but has been refused permission to have him tested a third time.

Last week, Macdonald lost her final appeal to save her beloved pet at the High Court in London and now a warrant has been signed for his euthanization. But she has received an outpouring of support from the public, with more than 90,000 people signing a petition calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to halt the killing.

A protest will start at 2 pm (1300 GMT) on Monday at Defra's headquarters at Smith Square in Westminster before heading to the gates of Downing Street. The demo is being organized by members of the Born Free Foundation, the Alpaca Society, and practicing vet and bovine TB policy expert Dr. Iain McGill.

The demonstrators will be joined by a number of alpacas who have been trained to walk with people and are comfortable around crowds, the organizers said. The campaigners believe that Geronimo is free of TB and that Defra's tests are highly likely to be inaccurate. They are demanding a different type of test be used to prove Geronimo's disease status before his death.

Speaking before the protest, Dominic Dyer, from the Born Free Foundation, said: "Defra has known for many years that the TB skin test could be leading to false positive TB results in alpacas. However rather than allow Geronimo to be tested for TB using a more accurate Actiphage PCR blood test, Defra Secretary George Eustice continues to order his death to avoid greater scrutiny over the many failures in the Government's bovine TB control policy in cattle, alpacas, and badgers."

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