An argument has been sparked after Boris Johnson's father has intervened to try and stop Geronimo the alpaca being put down.
The alpaca, which is living in South Gloucestershire, has been condemned to death after twice testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (BTB).
But owner Helen Macdonald, 50, claims the skin tests were flawed because Geronimo had been given the vaccine tuberculin which produced a false positive.
Read more: Supporters of alpaca Geronimo to form “human shield” in desperate bid to stop it being killed
And Stanley Johnson, the Prime Minister's father, has written an open letter to his son and George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, urging them to stop their "absurd murderous errand".
Writing for The Sun, Mr Johnson said: "My heart leapt up the other day when I saw, in several newspapers, some lovely photos of Geronimo, the woolly alpaca, now resident in Gloucestershire."
He claimed the case was “not an animal welfare story. It is also the story of one woman’s fight against a system”.
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But Kwasi Karteng, the Business Secretary, responded firmly on Sky News.
He said: "I am not sure where Stanley is coming from on this. My understanding is the alpaca tested positive for TB and the rules are quite clear."
He added: "People have invested emotionally in a story of the animal but there is a policy and there is no reason why the policy shouldn't be stuck to."
Helen McDonald lost her attempt in the High Court to save the alpaca, costing her £30,000, while another court decision which went against her cost her £15,000.
Protestors have been demonstrating outside Whitehall and the alpaca's farm in Wickwar to campaign against the plans to euthanise it.
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