‘It’s torment’: Malik Jeronimo awaits euthanasia of alpacas | the animals

[ad_1]

The Geronimo alpaca was looking hilarious on Friday. Its owner, Helen MacDonald, a veterinary nurse who struggled for four years to save his life, no less.

“I’m still standing still, that’s the best I can say,” she said. “It’s torture, to be honest. Mental torture.”

After MacDonald lost the final stage of a vexed court battle to prevent Geronimo’s quenching this week, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) gave it until 5 p.m. Friday to do the same.

She has made it very clear that she is not going to do the “dirty work” of Defra and take the life of what she insists is a healthy animal, so it seems the inevitable next stage is the arrival of men or women in the euthanasia truck for the eight-year-old camel.

Jeronimo has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, but MacDonald argues that the system is flawed and has begged Defra to check again.

The end appeared to be nearing for Geronimo when on Wednesday a London High Court judge, far from his field in south Gloucestershire, rejected a last-minute bid to save him.

MacDonald said she wouldn’t break the law to stop anyone who comes for the animal from doing what they should be doing. But she also said that she would not help them, and that a live surveillance camera installed above his pen would broadcast to the world what was happening.

She also has a group of supporters willing to put a “human shield” around the creature, if it can be done without breaking the law. “I’m not saying how many we’ll have here,” she said. “I don’t want to give them any advantage.”

MacDonald’s normal life has always been interrupted. She raises alpacas and usually runs courses for people who want to own one. She sends the alpaca wool to artisans in Devon who turn it into yarn, and the coarser pieces go to someone in Nottingham who uses them to stuff quilts and pillows. This aspect of her work had to take a back seat because of Geronimo.

Clearly, the tension took its toll. She said, “I am a law-abiding citizen, but they are trying to break me.” It also affects MacDonald’s 84-year-old mother. “She doesn’t sleep at night.”

MacDonald said she planned to spend the day trying to prove Devra wrong and explore any new legal avenues with her lawyer, but said she got the impression that some people were just waiting for the “meat wagon” – and possibly riot police – to arrive.

There was a huge outpouring of support from the public, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition calling for Boris Johnson to stop the killing.

MacDonald said she and Devra were at an impasse, but claimed there was still a way out, believing the government could order Jeronimo to be kept alive and use for human testing. “We’ll learn something after that. I just love George Eustis [the environment secretary] To come and sit down and talk about this through.”

The dreadful wait may not last. Defra has committed not to use its order before 5 p.m. Friday, but it remains in effect until September 4.

Defra said: “We empathize with Mrs. McDonald’s situation, just as we do empathize with everyone who suffers from animals affected by this terrible disease. For this reason, the test results and Geronimo’s options have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and veterinary experts, as well as Passing several stages of a comprehensive legal audit.

Bovine tuberculosis is one of the biggest threats to animal health today and is causing havoc and distress to farming families and rural communities across the country while costing taxpayers around £100 million annually. So, while no one wants to cull animals, we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease, stop its spread and protect the livelihoods of those affected.”

[ad_2]