The owner of 'death row' alpaca Geronimo has revealed on Good Morning Britain she was told to kill the animal herself.
In an interview with Kate Garraway and Richard Bacon this morning, Wickwar farm owner Helen MacDonald said she was told she would have to euthanise the animal she has fought for years to save.
Geronimo has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) ordered him to be euthanised.
READ MORE: Last-ditch legal fight to save Geronimo set to resume
However, veterinary nurse Ms MacDonald claims that the testing system is flawed and the eight-year-old alpaca is perfectly healthy.
She has asked for the animal, who was imported from New Zealand, to be retested, but the government has refused.
Her appearance on GMB comes after she lost a last-ditch appeal for an injunction on the death order to the High Court to save Geronimo yesterday (August 19).
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Kate Garraway attempted to comfort Ms MacDonald with a statement from Defra which insisted that there are “no immediate plans to slaughter Geronimo”.
Ms Macdonald replied: “What does that mean? I was told yesterday that I had to kill him myself today.”
Kate Garraway attempted to put a follow-up question to her, asking who had said this, but the line dropped and the interview came to an end.
When asked whether Geronimo could have tuberculosis, Ms Macdonald said it would be “very unlikely”.
She said: “He came from a highly bio-secure government-approved herd. He’s still standing four years later, so this isn’t an urgent disease risk and he hasn’t given it to his mates he lives with.”
Co-host Richard Bacon concluded: “It’s a bleak situation to be told by the government you have to kill your pet. I feel terribly sorry for Helen. It’s a lovely-looking animal, but it’s a public health issue.”
Ms Macdonald has received tremendous public support over the past few weeks, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to halt the killing.
