Owner of culled alpaca Geronimo demands answers from new Labour Government

The owner of an alpaca who was culled three years ago has called for the new Labour Government to provide answers about how Geronimo died.

Helen Macdonald, from Wickwar in Gloucestershire, wants a meeting with Environment Secretary Steve Reed about her case.

Geronimo, who tested positive for bovine TB twice, was put down by vets on 31 August 2021 after his owner lost a lengthy legal fight to halt the culling.

Ms Macdonald was campaigning for the move to be halted after insisting bovine tuberculosis tests returned false positives.

She had wanted Geronimo to be tested for a third time or allowed to live to aid research into the disease.

The veterinary nurse argued the Enferplex test was fundamentally flawed and said Geronimo tested positive because he had repeatedly been primed with tuberculin – a purified protein derivative of bovine TB bacteria.

The alpaca was put down after police and staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) arrived at Ms Macdonald’s farm near Wickwar.

At the time, Defra said initial post-mortem examination tests had found a “number of TB-like lesions” but further tests would be carried out.

Those tests failed to provide conclusive findings about the source of the animal’s bovine TB, the Government said.

Ms Macdonald said she still does not know how Geronimo died after the alpaca was removed from her farm and loaded into a trailer and taken away.

She has complaints lodged with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct about the operation to cull the animal.

“Given the weight of the evidence available to the PHSO and the lack of any credible defence offered by Defra we expect the PHSO to uphold our complaint in full and for Defra to address the very valid questions we have raised persistently for years,” Ms McDonald said.

“As a direct result of the abuse inflicted by Defra for the last seven years there has been no closure for us as a family or a community. Geronimo’s companions remain in their isolation unit today.

“Not only have we lost Geronimo, our business has experienced significant financial losses due to movement restrictions.

“We have a pedigree alpaca herd of the highest health status with exemplary biosecurity and yet are unable to trade.

“It feels like a direct abuse of power. How can the Government behave like this towards its farmers?

“These are unjustifiable and unreasonable acts of cruelty. Lessons must be learned and those responsible for causing so much distress to so many must be fully held to account.”

• Helen Macdonald invites Keir Starmer to visit her farm

Ms Macdonald is requesting an urgent meeting with Steve Reed, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and arming minster Daniel Zeichner.

"Steve Reed and Daniel Zeichner and Keir Starmer did not have access to the information that Defra held when they were in opposition", she said.

"Now that they are in power, they need to get a grasp of what is happening in that department.

"They need to look at the evidence that I hold, and that has been very clear and publicly documented, and they need to review that. And apply what they understand from it to my situation."

Speaking to ITV West Country, Helen added: "If Keir Starmer is serious about reforming the country and undoing the harm that the Conservative government caused, then that's what I task him to do.

"I invite all of them out to my farm, come and meet me, my family, my animals that are still in isolating to this day - that were with Geronimo."

In 2021 chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said the Animal and Plant Health Agency had completed its culture testing work to try to determine the source of the infection.

Ms Middlemiss said it was not possible to culture bacteria from tissue samples, meaning that whole-genome sequencing could not be carried out.

“This animal tested positive for bovine tuberculosis on two separate occasions using highly specific tests.

“Due to the complexity of the disease, further testing has not enabled us to use whole-genome sequencing to try to understand how the animal became infected in the first place.”

Responding to Ms Macdonald's calls for a meeting, a spokesperson from Defra said: “Our sympathies remain with all those with animals affected by this terrible disease which devastates farmers’ livelihoods.“It is important to remember that infected animals can spread the disease to both animals and people before displaying clinical signs, which is why we take action quickly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.”