Geronimo’s devastated owner blasts DEFRA and demands a witness at post-mortem

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The owner of Geronimo the alpaca has called on the Environment Secretary to resign, accusing him of ‘murdering an innocent animal’ days before a warrant for the animal’s destruction was due to expire.

Police officers and staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) arrived at Helen Macdonald’s farm near Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, at 10.45am on Tuesday.

Campaigners, who had been camped out at the property for weeks, loudly protested as the Defra staff, wearing overalls, masks and goggles, rounded up the alpaca in his enclosure.

Geronimo, who had twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, was tied with white rope before being scanned for a microchip then pulled through a field to a waiting trailer.

The trailer and police escort left the farm at 11.20am and by 12.40pm, Defra confirmed that the animal had been euthanised by staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha).

In a statement, Defra said that a court warrant, which was due to expire on September 4, had been used to seize Geronimo from the farm and euthanise him.

Ms Macdonald insists that bovine tuberculosis tests previously carried out on the alpaca returned false positives and has been campaigning for his destruction to be halted.

She had applied in writing for an independent witness to be present when a post-mortem examination was carried out on Geronimo, who came to the UK from New Zealand in 2017.

However, on Tuesday evening she posted a letter to her Twitter account that appeared to be from the Government Legal Department.

This stated that Apha ‘was not in a position to accommodate’ her request for her vet to observe the post-mortem examination ‘for health and safety, Covid-19 and site security reasons’.

It added: ‘The examination proceeded in accordance with standard operating procedures for suspected TB clinical cases and TB test-positive animals, which do not allow for the obtaining of samples for private testing’.

Ms Macdonald tweeted: ‘Citing Covid and security reasons are appallingly weak excuses to block an independent observer to the post-mortem of Geronimo.

‘This is an immensely arrogant and blatant continuation of their mission to conceal their processes and act without transparency and fairness’.

The veterinary nurse also called on environment secretary George Eustice to resign.

She said: ‘I am calling for George Eustice’s resignation.

‘The Secretary of State has acted in bad faith, refusing to engage with us to discuss a research solution that would further the Government’s very own objectives.

‘Instead he has resorted to bullying and cowardly tactics, hiding behind Government lawyers and refusing to listen to us.

‘He has murdered an innocent animal rather than doing something productive and good for this country and small farmers like me.

‘He is unfit to hold office.’

Ms Macdonald previously described herself as ‘shocked and disgusted’ at how the Government had acted and called for Mr Eustice to come to her farm and explain himself.

‘They have murdered a perfectly healthy animal from New Zealand,’ Ms Macdonald said. I wasn’t even here, they just stormed the place.

‘They took him from here alive, they shouldn’t have done that – it was cruel. My understanding was that they had the right to come and destroy Geronimo however they felt appropriate.

‘They did not have the right to drag him into a horsebox and drive him away, on his own, without his companions.

‘They rounded up the rest of them and stressed them all out, then they dragged and took him away. That’s not animal welfare, that’s animal cruelty.’ 

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Downing Street had expressed sympathy for Ms Macdonald, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying it was ‘highly distressing’ for people to lose animals to tuberculosis.

In response, Ms Macdonald said: ‘Boris apparently is sympathetic, well, I don’t need his sympathy.

‘I needed him to stop this in its tracks when he had the opportunity and look what’s happened.

‘They’ve decided to take death at all costs instead of learning and science. They all should be out of a job.’

Ms Macdonald accused the Government of ‘stringing us along’ in recent weeks as she and her team tried to engage with them about alternative options to putting down the alpaca.

‘In fact, all the time, they were simply planning to murder Geronimo,’ she added.

Dr Iain McGill, veterinary scientific adviser to Ms Macdonald, accused Defra of ‘mentally torturing’ her and ‘trying to kill their way out of trouble’.

‘I am absolutely disgusted that while I focus on Nowzad Op Ark to help get vulnerable vets, vet nurses, children and 150 animals out of Kabul, with which Defra have helped, that they should go behind my back and execute Geronimo, for whom I am a key protector,’ he said.

‘Against a background of death, destruction and chaos in Kabul, Defra decide to kill the most famous animal in the world based on fake science and fake testing.’

Dominic Dyer, of the Born Free Foundation, said the death of Geronimo would be ‘hugely damaging’ to the Government and was an ‘insult’ to Ms Macdonald’s efforts to save her alpaca.

‘The killing of Geronimo was a desperate move by Defra to hide decades of negligence, incompetence and deceit surrounding bovine TB policy and is a national disgrace,’ Mr Dyer said.

In a statement, Defra confirmed that a court warrant had been used to enter the farm to remove Geronimo, who was then euthanised. It said bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is one of the ‘most significant animal health challenges that England faces today’ and costs taxpayers more than £100 million each year.

More than 27,000 cattle were slaughtered last year to curb the spread of the infectious disease, it added.

Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: ‘This is a terribly sad situation and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this devastating disease.

‘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 minimise spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country.

‘Not only is this essential to protect the livelihoods of our farming industry and rural communities, but it is also necessary to avoid more TB cases in humans.’ 

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that officers had attended the farm to support the execution of the court warrant.

One supporter was briefly arrested after spraying attending officers with a water pistol, but was quickly de-arrested.

Ms Macdonald had called on Defra to allow Geronimo to be tested for a third time or let him live to aid research into the disease.

She has argued that the Enferplex test is fundamentally flawed and says Geronimo tested positive because he had repeatedly been primed with tuberculin – a purified protein derivative of bovine TB bacteria.

The veterinary nurse has received support from around the world, with more than 140,000 people signing a petition against Geronimo’s destruction.

Earlier this month, a High Court judge refused her lawyer’s application for a temporary injunction to stop the destruction order and reopen the case.

Miss Macdonald, who previously vowed to stand in front of a marksman to protect him, was nowhere to be seen as the alpaca was taken away. 

She claimed she had been ‘duped’ by the Government and had expected Defra vets to give Geronimo a stay of execution. But when police arrived, Miss Macdonald said she had no choice but to leave as she ‘would have been arrested for obstruction’. She also claimed that Defra ‘will try and fudge the post-mortem’, calling it a ‘complete set-up’.  

Miss Macdonald has received support from around the world, with more than 140,000 people signing a petition against Geronimo’s destruction.

Pen Farthing’s friend Dominic Dyer, an animal rights campaigner, tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with Helen Macdonald one of the most bravest & courageous people I know that fought a David & Goliath battle with Defra to save the life of her precious Geronimo’.

Downing Street has expressed sympathy for Miss Macdonald, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying: ‘It’s obviously highly distressing for someone to lose animals to TB and that’s a situation that farmers sadly have to face.

‘Our sympathies are with Ms Macdonald and any others that are affected by this terrible disease.’

In a statement, Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said: ‘This is a terribly sad situation and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this devastating disease.

‘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 minimise spread of this insidious disease and ultimately eradicate the biggest threat to animal health in this country. 

‘Not only is this essential to protect the livelihoods of our farming industry and rural communities, but it is also necessary to avoid more TB cases in humans.’ 

The destruction warrant was valid until Saturday, September 4 and Miss Macdonald had previously called on Environment Secretary George Eustice to allow Geronimo to be tested for a third time or let him live to aid research into the disease. 

One supporter named Ray Puttock said despite the tragic news, the Geronimo saga has brought many supporters together. He said: ‘We’ve all become very good friends here. People here weren’t my friends when they turned up, now they’ll always be my friends.’

On the heavy police presence, he said: ‘I tried coming in two different ways and got stopped at both. I saw five cars and three police motorbikes. That’s without the vehicles that were here.

‘It would be very interesting to ask the Avon and Somerset control room today ‘how grade one many grade one blue shouts were you unable to attend because of all the officers that were at the alpacas?’

‘They are assisting the state, they are not assisting the people, the community they’re supposed to serve. Just disgraceful.’

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: ‘We can confirm officers are in attendance at a farm in the Wickwar area of South Gloucestershire this morning to support the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), who are executing a court warrant.

‘We’ll always support our partner agencies to carry out their lawful duties and our role is to prevent a breach of the peace and to ensure public safety is protected.’  

A Defra spokesman refused to comment on ‘operational matters’ when approached by MailOnline, but said in a statement: ‘We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald’s situation – just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease.  

‘It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny. 

‘Bovine tuberculosis is one of the greatest animal health threats we face today and causes devastation and distress for farming families and rural communities across the country while costing the taxpayer around £100million every year. 

‘Therefore, while nobody wants to cull animals, we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease, stop it spreading and to protect the livelihoods of those affected.’

Miss Macdonald said: ‘I fled, if I had stayed there they would have arrested me for obstruction. That would have played into their hands because I wouldn’t have been able to keep fighting for him. They took him alive – we’ve been totally duped. It’s an outrage.’

‘We don’t know where they’ve taken him but there are still a few hours to try to save his life. We have got to get this stopped.’ 

She sent a text message to reporters at the farm which said: ‘They took him alive, get after Defra’. Her Twitter account @alpacapower posted: ‘DEFRA have arrived! We are asking once again for an urgent meeting with George Eustice. Please don’t execute Geronimo.’  

Campaigner Graham Edwards, 54, said: ‘They have broken their own laws and protocols – if the animal has TB they are not allowed to move it. It should have been slaughtered here but they wouldn’t do it because there are cameras here to record everything that happened.’  

Mr Edwards, from Reading, has spent two weeks camping at the farm, said: ‘They came mob-handed – there were more than 30 police here. They pushed through a fence, they came to do a job and there was no stopping them. I was told the vets were Spanish – not even English.

‘It was supposed to have been put down here, not taken away. We didn’t expect them to take it away. They are a bunch of hypocrites – I’m gutted, we all are.’

More than a dozen leading vets called on the Government to halt the culling of Geronimo after questioning his tuberculosis diagnosis, and instead urged the animal to be studied for science.

The 13 vets – who include a former senior official at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – said they had ‘grave reservations’ about the two positive tests the animal returned in 2017 and they ‘may well represent a false positive’.    

Among the signatories to the letter are Professor Ranald Munroe, former head of pathology for Defra’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Dr Iain McGill, veterinary scientific adviser to Ms Macdonald.

In the letter, they write: ‘It is our professional opinion that the diagnosis in Geronimo’s case is unsafe, and may well represent a false positive, due to the fact that Geronimo had been repeatedly ‘antibody boosted’ or primed – five times in his lifetime with four injections of bovine tuberculin and one of avian tuberculin in the run up to the final Enferplex blood test which confirmed the ‘positive’ diagnosis of ‘suspicion of disease’.’

They said Mr Eustice had the power to overturn Geronimo’s destruction warrant and order he be observed for scientific research.

‘We could learn a great deal from Geronimo were he to be compassionately studied, but very little from his death,’ they said. 

‘We believe Geronimo’s case shines a light on the shortcomings of the current bTB testing policy, and gives an opportunity for a comprehensive review of the bovine TB testing and control policy, based on science and for the health and wellbeing of farmers, cattle, alpacas, badgers, the environment and the public. 

‘Given the mental anguish that Helen MacDonald has had to endure these past four years, and the publicity surrounding the case, we would urge Secretary of State for Defra, George Eustice and his team to discuss matters with us and Ms MacDonald to find a way out of this impasse.’

Miss Macdonald had called for an urgent meeting with the Government, pleading: ‘We are requesting an urgent meeting with Environment Secretary George Eustice, and really hope to hear back from Defra.

‘It is naturally a terribly traumatic time for Geronimo and myself, and everyone else who has been supporting us over the last few weeks. But we remain confident that there are ways forward to save Geronimo, and that Defra will find a way to do the right thing.’

Last week, more than a dozen vets said they have ‘grave reservations’ about the two positive tests the eight-year-old animal returned in 2017 and that they ‘may well represent a false positive’. 

Earlier this month, a High Court judge refused her lawyer’s application for a temporary injunction to stop the destruction order and reopen the case.

Miss Macdonald said that when Defra officials do attend her farm to euthanise Geronimo, she would not break the law.

Supporters have also been camping out at her farm in case officials arrive to destroy him. They have been receiving regular deliveries of supplies from well-wishers, including tea bags, coffee, sugar, and vegan food.

As well as alpacas, badgers have been a victim of the fight against bovine TB, with mass culling employed to stop the spread since 2013, sparking a huge public backlash.

The Government insists that all the evidence on the animal’s condition has been ‘looked at very carefully’.