Yahoo News Geronimo the alpaca: Initial postmortem ‘shows euthanised animal did not have tuberculosis’
Geronimo the alpaca did not have bovine tuberculosis, the preliminary findings of the post-mortem examination on him show, according to his owner.
Helen Macdonald has called on environment secretary George Eustice to quit, to chants from supporters of “murderer” at a demonstration outside Mr Eustice’s offices.
Ms Macdonald accused government officials of hiding from her how the animal was killed and how they “tortured” him on his final journey.
But officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) dispute Ms Macdonald’s reading of the results, insisting the post-mortem examination showed lesions, which will be tested in the coming months.
The alpaca tested negative for bovine TB before being imported in 2017 from New Zealand. He showed no symptoms since then, but Defra insisted he had tested positive so should be culled.
Officials, supported by police, finally led him to his death on 31 August, after a prolonged battle by Ms Macdonald and her veterinary adviser to prove the tests were flawed.
Campaigner Dominic Dyer branded Geronimo’s capture as “one of the most brutal incidents of animal crime in this country I have ever seen”, to cheers from supporters of “shame on Defra”.
Ms Macdonald, a veterinary nurse, has requested the full post-mortem results, after her own expert was refused permission to attend.
She accused officials of threatening and intimidating her, and “wheeling out experts” who knew nothing about camelids.
“There is a long list of people who contributed to the barbaric treatment of Geronimo,” Ms Macdonald told the crowd. She claimed they were punishing her for daring to “stand up to their dogma”.
“Geronimo was the innocent victim of arrogance, ignorance and greed,” she said.
“Geronimo was a blessing in the world,” Ms Macdonald said to more cheers, pledging to fight for him and ensure his legacy lived on for all animals.
Vet Iain McGill outlined how officials had stressed Geronimo to capture him, and had failed to take a proper head harness and to dart him.
The animal was “primed” with tuberculin antibodies, which had caused a false positive, he said, insisting they had asked to talk to officials but had been rejected.
Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: “A number of TB-like lesions were found, and in line with standard practice, these are now undergoing further investigation.
“These tests include the developing of bacteriological cultures from tissue samples, which usually takes several months - we would expect to complete the full post-mortem and culture process by the end of the year.”
Defra said Ms Macdonald was welcome to get a second opinion on the post-mortem report and government scientists were willing to any answer questions they may have . Ms Middlemiss had made attempts to contact the owner, the department added.
Dr McGill said the preliminary post-mortem results showed no visible lesions, and no white or cream enlarged abscesses of the sort seen in TB in alpacas.
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