Geronimo the alpaca: High Court bid to save animal refused
- Published
An alpaca who has been at the centre of a row with the government is to be killed after his owner lost a last-ditch attempt to save him.
Geronimo had twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) ordered him to be euthanised.
An application for an injunction to halt the destruction order was refused at London's High Court earlier.
Helen Macdonald believes the tests are returning false positives.
Mrs Justice Stacey refused the urgent application and concluded there was "no prospect" of Ms Macdonald succeeding in her bid to reopen a previous ruling.
She said the farmer's complaint about non-disclosure did not give rise to an arguable case, but was a "disingenuous and backdoor way of seeking a further route to appeal" when there was none left.
Ned Westaway, representing Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, told the court it will not seek to execute the warrant on Wednesday evening, and would give Ms Macdonald the opportunity to make her own arrangements for Geronimo's destruction.
Ms Macdonald, who owns a farm at Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, has received an outpouring of support from the public, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition calling on Boris Johnson to halt the killing.
She believes the tests he underwent gave false positives, but has been refused permission to have him tested a third time.
Representing Ms Macdonald, Catrin McGahey QC, told the High Court it had come to light that other animals subjected to the same testing regime as Geronimo had shown no signs of the disease after being euthanised.
However, Mrs Justice Stacey said that on the evidence before her, Ms Macdonald had not succeeded in showing there was any prospect of her reopening the litigation.
"There are no plans to execute the warrant today," said a Defra spokesperson after the hearing.
"We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald's situation, just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease.
"It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny."