Veterinary staff, who arrived with a police escort, surround Geronimo the alpaca on Aug. 31 at Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, England, before the animal was taken away on a trailer.A high-profile campaign to save a British alpaca named Geronimo came to a sad conclusion on Tuesday when government veterinarians killed the animal despite fierce resistance from dozens of protesters.
Defra officials had argued for months that Geronimo had to be put down because he had twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, or bTB, an infectious disease that can be passed on to humans in rare instances. Ms. Macdonald, 50, said the government’s tests were flawed and she waged a four-year legal battle to have him retested. She lost a final legal bid last week, which cleared the way for Defra to execute a death warrant for Geronimo.
“No one wants to have to cull infected animals if it can be avoided, but we need to follow the scientific evidence and cull animals that have tested positive for bTB to minimize spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country.” To check for bTB, the New Zealand farm used a common procedure called a skin test. It involves injecting animals with tuberculin, a mixture of proteins extracted from dead bovine TB bacteria. If the animal is infected, its immune system will kick in and cause swelling in the area around the injection. The size of the lump determines whether the animal has to be killed.
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