Sad that he was not tested before allowed in.
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Oh I read this as wellâŠits a terrible shame. Sheâs a vet as well. If I were her, I would hide him at a friends place until it all goes away. He shouldnât be killed, no way! 
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I saw this story on the BBC (it has a video as well):
I thought it was @Cinderella? From the article:
Geronimoâs owner, veterinary nurse Helen Macdonald who breeds alpacas at her farm in Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, claims the tests used were inaccurate. She pointed out that Geronimo had tested negative on four occasions in New Zealand.
But Mr Eustice said the tests used were more than 99% accurate when detecting positive tests - and that the tests in New Zealand were âfar less reliableâ.
His owner has said she would put him down herself if he had the disease.
Has been in the country four years for crying out loud!
Could he have contracted while here then?
Maybe, but no need to treat the owner in this way. If he has to be destroyed she is responsible and able to do it without the heavy handed DEFRA or the police.
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Geronimoâs vet last night accused minister George Eustice of âlying about the scienceâ to justify the alpacaâs execution and called for him to be sacked.
An ex-president of the British Veterinary Camelid Society, said the department had not published any data on how priming alpacas prior to blood tests could affect results, despite years of requests.
Dr Iain McGill criticised comments made by the Environment Secretary in which he explained why the positive bovine tuberculosis (bTB) tests were reliable.
âGeorge Eustice has blatantly lied here about the tests used on Geronimo,â he said. âIt is despicable to attempt to manufacture consent for the slaughter of Geronimo with entirely false information. George Eustice must now resign. If he doesnât, the Prime Minister should sack him.â
There will be trouble if the animal is put down and then found not to have TB, having made a mistake before.
Give the animal a blood test. If itâs positive there is only one possible outcome - humane slaughter like we do when cattle contract bovine TB.
Itâs already had two of a test which is allegedly extremely reliable.
Yes, I know they are extremely reliable at 99+% accuracy but, as a one off in this case and this case only, wouldnât a blood test be an absolute 100% final arbiter?
As an aside, but still pertinent, I was reading in yesterdayâs MoS that animal scientists have finally developed a method/test that distinguishes between the bTB virus and the vaccine. This will be going on trial shortly and, in a few years time, should allow our dairy farmers to have their milkers vaccinated against bTB and still provide milk for the human food chain.
Hmmm @Percy_Vere our milk is already full of antibiotics as it is. I donât fancy drinking the TB vaccine as well 
Itâs beyond a bladdy joke IMHO.
Just because itâs an alpaca!
Whole herds of cattle get slaughtered on a regular basis becuase of Bovine TB and nobody says a ruddy word, but because itâs an alpaca thatâs supposed to be different?
Are you sure about that, Pixie? Our dairy herds are only given antibiotics as and when necessary for the cowsâ health and, from what a farmer friend tells me, any cow so treated is taken out of the âmilk chainâ for a few days until sheâs fully recovered (at least thatâs how he does it).
Wrong.
"Milk producers must ensure that milk from animals under antibiotic treatment or in the withdrawal period does not enter the food chain.
Food businesses must test milk for antibiotics at various points in the supply chain, including on farm. If milk is found to contain antibiotic residues in excess of maximum residue limit (MRL), food businesses must initiate procedures to ensure that raw milk is not placed on the market."
In addition to that, Organic Milk must come from animals that do net get treated with antibiotics at all.
Ok, Iâm happy if that is the case, and I am completely wrong on the info I previously believed.
(Plus I just did a double quote accidently and Iâm so happy!)
I donât drink cows milk anymore, just plant based or nut milk. And I still think Geronimo shouldnât be killed.
Nice one on the double quote.
Did you know that plant- and nut-based milk alternatives often have a greater environmental impact than cows milk and besides lacking in the protein and nutrients of dairy milk they are often high in sugar too?
As to Geronimo, youâre entitled to your opinion but why should he be treated any differently to any other Bovine TB - infected animal?
And I wouldnât touch Brazil nut milk with a barge pole because itâs radioactive.
I eat dairy - being veggie rather than vegan suits me. I also feel much better physically when using plant based milk, so unless someone comes up with an alternative, Iâll just have to drink the unsweetened versions.
Its like killing all of us because we have tested positive for Covid, and could potentially pass it on. A bit of an extreme example I admit, but its the same principles. Treat the TB, make other options viable like isolation from the herd, or something other than ending his life.
Fair enough to the first, each to their own.
But for the second no, itâs not a viable option - and no it isnât anything like Covid.
Bovine TB is extremely contagious plus accross species too and as of now there is no effective cure which does not take too long and so causes further infection, and is also uneconomical.
Itâs a global battle and one where progress is being made using these known, if unsavoury, methods of control.
Iâm sure none of us wishes to see Bovine TB become a problem on the scale of foot & mouth disease which Iâm sure we all remember, yet it wouldnât take many instances such as this darned alpaca for it to grow into such a problem.
You would see far, far more animal deaths were that allowed to happen.
An infected alpaca should be treated just like any other infected animal unless you can be 100% certain that no cross-infection is possible and given two positive tests neither you nor anybody else can make that promise.
Unless you really want to risk the deaths of countless other animals and have that potentially far greater burden on your shoulders the alpaca must die.