Geronimo survives week one on death row: Doomed Alpaca avoids slaughter – but clock is ticking
Geronimo survives week one on death row: Doomed Alpaca avoids slaughter – but clock is ticking as Defra has just over three weeks to carry out killing
High Court judge ruled Geronimo must be put down within 30 days of August 5Alpaca from New Zealand is in isolation on farm in Wickwar, south GloucestershireSome 30 ‘alpaca angels’ keeping watch at site, vowing to stop any attempted cull
Geronimo the doomed Alpaca is celebrating a ‘significant milestone’ Friday after avoiding his Government-mandated slaughter for a whole week.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) now has just over three weeks to carry out the killing after owner Helen Macdonald, 50, lost a £50,000 High Court battle to save the animal.
Geronimo, who is in isolation on Ms Macdonald’s farm in Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, was sentenced to death after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), but his owner has always insisted the results were false positives.
A High Court judge disagreed and ruled that Geronimo must be put down within 30 days from August 5 – meaning Defra agents could arrive to execute Geronimo at any minute.
Ms Macdonald said today: ‘This first week has been one of the toughest of my life but it feels like a significant milestone.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) now has just over three weeks to carry out the killing after owner Helen Macdonald (pictured), 50, lost a High Court bid to save Geronimo (pictured behind Ms Macdonald)
‘We just have to keep ploughing on for the next few weeks now.
‘Geronimo and I have gained incredible support but there’s more of this torment to come.’
It comes as an online petition demanding Geronimo be spared has gathered more than 124,000 signatures.
There is now a live webcam on his pen for supporters to watch while 30 ‘alpaca angels’ have arrived at the farm vowing to stop any cull.
Ms Macdonald added: ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without them.
There is now a live webcam on Geronimo’s pen for supporters to watch while 30 ‘alpaca angels’ have arrived at the farm vowing to stop any cull
The scene from Geronimo’s live webcam in Wickwar, south Gloucestershire (Pictured: Geronimo in his isolated pen)
‘I’ve barely slept and keep staring at the gate waiting for them to arrive.’
The high court ruling has spurred a host of celebrities to join the campaign, including actress Joanna Lumley and Boris Johnson’s father Stanley Johnson – although he said he had not phoned his son over the issue because he doesn’t wish to ‘invoke some privileged access mechanism’ to advance his opinion.
Meanwhile supporters gathered to demonstrate outside Defra headquarters this week.
But the body has repeatedly refused to retest Geronimo for bTB arguing its test is accurate – despite the Daily Mail’s bombshell evidence of nine other camelids who were slaughtered following false positives for bTB.
Ms Macdonald said earlier this week: ‘We are just asking to have him tested with something appropriate.
‘I get they have policy to follow but there are other ways, and they don’t have to kill him.’
Defra has repeatedly refused to retest Geronimo (pictured) for bTB arguing its test is accurate – despite the Daily Mail’s bombshell evidence of nine other camelids who were slaughtered following false positives for bTB
Ms Macdonald puts up a banner with the help of supporters who have vowed to resist any attempted cull
The Prime Minister’s spokesman previously said: ‘The fact remains that Geronimo has sadly tested positive twice using a highly specific and reliable and validated test.’
Supporters hoping for backing from the Labour Party were left bitterly disappointed when leader Sir Keir Starmer backed Geronimo’s killing on Wednesday night.
‘It’s a really sad situation and you can see why emotions are running really high,’ Sir Keir said.
‘It’s always tragic when it happens. I don’t think we can make an exception in this case.
‘Of course it’s sad – it’s sad for farmers as well when they lose their animals but we have to keep TB under control.’
Several voters said they had cancelled their Labour Party membership over Sir Keir’s stance, with animal rights campaigner Dominic Dyer branding the response ‘absolutely disgraceful.’
