The prime minister’s father has joined the campaign to save Geronimo.
Stanley Johnson said the animal should be given “a stay of execution”.
Mr Johnson, a former Tory MEP and who writes about wildlife for The Sun newspaper, said he had spoken to Ms Macdonald over the weekend.
“As far as I’m concerned it is absolutely possible and necessary for the secretary of state George Eustice to have a stay of execution,” he said.
"Why? Because when this animal was tested when he came to England, yes there might have been a positive result, and the owner thinks it was a false positive, but that is several years ago.
"An animal that is diseased would not have survived five years, that is for sure.
Well, I agree. I really don’t know what to think about 100,000 people signing a protest for an alpaca though…I need to sleep on it and come back tomorrow. I do think more (worthy?) injustices could do with such phenomenal support…
Comment from newspaper.
Man who has lost cows that have returned negative TB test.
UK vets know full well the current TB test is flawed. I have lost cows that have returned negative for TB but it’s too late when they are hung on a large hook. DEFRA are headless chickens as any vet will tell you so I sympathise with Helen Macdonald. Again this is another example of the countryside being governed by halfwits, fed dodgy information by other halfwits, that suits their own agenda.
The campaigners have said that the tuberculin primer injected into the alpaca’s skin, used to increase the sensitivity of the blood tests, can return false positives.
One of the worst aspects of it all, Ms. Macdonald said, is that she wasn’t required to test Geronimo when he first arrived from New Zealand. Rather, she volunteered to do so a few weeks after he arrived because she was trying to promote use of the test, she said.
That would have been the time to test him for any disease, wouldn’t it?
I am an animal lover but filming the animal being PTS seems pretty weird behaviour to me , to what end ?. Hundreds of animal cows lambs and pigs are slaughtered every day . They are mainly kept by hobby farmers with lots of money i have yet to see any real farmers keep them.
Muddy, I think she feels it an injustice against the animal, and of course its a pet to her really. Its probably something akin to suggesting I put my dog down in case she bites someone. Plus these TB jags seem to return more positive results (as far as I have read) but I don’t know that much about them. Edited to add: She’s a vet as well, so its not like its a handbag Alpaca for Instagram, I mean she must know more than most about this stuff?
The current tests for bTB cannot distinguish between an actual bTB infection and an inactive virus used in a vaccine. That’s why no dairy cows are vaccinated against bTB and all are humanely destroyed. As I posted ^^ a new test has been developed that, hopefully, will distinguish between the bTB virus and the vaccine is going on trial shortly but the results won’t be known for at least 5 years or so.
Pixie it must be very distressing for her but think it’s the same for any farmers who depend on their livestock for a living not a pet imported at great cost from New Zealand . She is a veterinary nurse which is by no means the same as a vet .Why should she be allowed to flout the law and farmers have to have their cows destroyed which may have years of breeding behind them . It must be heart breaking of course but if you bring in livestock you have to abide by Defra rules as they are I’m afraid .
Oh I agree with you, rules are rules, and I do think she is trying so hard to save her pet before thinking of the longer consequences. However, I’m not understanding how the alapaca tested negative on leaving NZ, was kept in quarantine, and suddenly began testing positive? I don’t know about livestock or disease, but that doesn’t make sense at all to me.
I also wasn’t aware she was a vet nurse, rather than an actual vet.
Solicitor Jan Mugerwa said: “Defra have agreed to extend their undertaking until 17:00 on Tuesday.”
Ms Macdonald’s lawyers have written to Environment Secretary George Eustice to suggest Geronimo’s life could be saved and instead he could be studied for research.
