Farmer loses final High Court bid to save alpaca's life

A farmer has lost a last-ditch High Court bid to save her alpaca from being culled.

Helen Macdonald's stud Geronimo was earmarked for slaughter after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) twice but she disputed the results.

The eight-year-old alpaca was brought to the UK from New Zealand in 2017 and has been kept in isolation ever since.

Ms Macdonald, from Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, said they will be shooting a "perfectly healthy animal".

Geronimo and five other alpacas have been in quarantine since August 2017.

The stud tested negative for bovine TB in New Zealand but when Ms Macdonald agreed to a voluntary test as part of national surveillance of the disease the result came back positive.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) decided to conduct a second test in November 2017, which also came back positive, and ordered Geronimo to be put down.

In 2019, Ms Macdonald challenged the environment secretary's refusal to allow the animal to be re-tested again.

She argued there was "overwhelming evidence" the alpaca was not infected and the original test results were "not reliable".

But after losing her High Court appeal, a district judge signed an "execution warrant" in May 2021.

Ms Macdonald's appeal against the warrant was rejected at the High Court earlier.

Ruling on the animal's fate, Mr Justice Griffiths said he had a "great degree of sympathy for her" but stressed the need to protect against the "serious consequences" of bTB.

"This is not a case in which the wishes and feelings of Miss Macdonald can be paramount," he said.

He agreed to delay the start of the second execution warrant until 5 August to allow her to have Geronimo put down.

Ms Macdonald said putting down a "perfectly healthy animal" was "devastating" and she was "really disappointed".

"It's been a four year battle and I'm devastated," she said.

"He's fit and healthy. His expert vet says there's absolutely nothing wrong with him.

"I'm going to want an independent, full post mortem. If they're so sure he's got disease, they're going to have to prove it."

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