Has there been a thread about Geronimo?

I think this is the only thread ( surprising!)
I don’t know anything about the Tb tests, but farmers have to abide by them ( and usually do.) This is ‘one’ alpaca, not a whole herd, however sad it is.Presumably he has had more than one test in any case.

Wha? Don’t get it.

He's had 2 tests apparently, but his owner said (I think) that he had had a TB vax before the tests, and therefore that may have influenced the result.

4 years ago an alpaca was tested twice for Bovine TB. He tested positive.

Any animal that tests positive has to be culled.

However the alpacas owner is arguing that no other of her animals has “caught” it from Geronimo, neither has the alpaca shown any sign of the disease.

The owner is requesting retesting, as tests have shown to be unreliable, but for some reason the government department is refusing.

I have to say I am staggered at the amount of media interest in this blasted alpaca.
Astonishingly the story has been in newspapers for several days.
Out of all proportion in my opinion but I’m probably in the minority.

?

No you are not JenniferEccles,i can`t get my head around it.

Me too Jennifer. Considering the rest of the news, atrocities in Afghanistan, deaths from violent weather storms, climate change worsening etc I feel this is not a top story deserving so much attention.

I have watched this with interest, from a distance.
I am afraid the media here and friends just cannot get round the fact that the World is going to Hell in a handcart and the headline news is about an Alpaca.
British eccentricity going mad !!!!!!

JenniferEccles

I have to say I am staggered at the amount of media interest in this blasted alpaca.
Astonishingly the story has been in newspapers for several days.
Out of all proportion in my opinion but I’m probably in the minority.

That is why no one started a thread. In the scheme of things it is a non-story. Oh how I wish it wasn’t!!

Farmers lose herds of cattle if the cattle test positive, their livelihood.
DEFRA should just get on with it.

We agree then Whitewavemk2
Wow! I think that’s the first time isn’t it?
Who could have guessed that our common ground would be the over-hyped fate of an alpaca?!!

JenniferEccles

We agree then Whitewavemk2
Wow! I think that’s the first time isn’t it?
Who could have guessed that our common ground would be the over-hyped fate of an alpaca?!!

?. All is not lost

?

It’s a huge fuss about nothing
Cannot they not pay for a private test to prove if it does or does not have TB …doesn’t the government, the press, and general public have anything else to be concerned about for crying out loud
Not even worth a thread to be honest

JenniferEccles

I have to say I am staggered at the amount of media interest in this blasted alpaca.
Astonishingly the story has been in newspapers for several days.
Out of all proportion in my opinion but I’m probably in the minority.

It's been on the local news non-stop.

Farmers lose herds of cattle if the cattle test positive, their livelihood.
DEFRA should just get on with it.
Should have done it years ago, JaxJacky. If I had a cattle farm nearby I would not be happy!

I’m a great animal lover but if an animal tests positive for TB there is no choice it must be culled. It’s very sad but I believe the alpaca has already had two positive tests already?

Thank goodness it’s not just me!
I know we are a nation of animal lovers ( and I absolutely loathe animal cruelty) but the obsession with this blasted creature is out of all proportion.

I understand that local vets are unwilling to euthanise the alpaca for fear of reprisals.

I am an animal lover as well but we have to be realistic, I agree with Jaxjacky bovine TB needs to be eliminated

My son in law owns a dairy farm.If their cattle tested positive whether they showed symptoms or not they would be culled and there would go their livelihood.
It’s a sad situation for the alpaca but if the animal has tested positive it can’t be exempt from the rules.As others have said this disease needs to be eliminated.

I really think this is a " silly season" story. If he has tested positive of course he must be put down. All this talk of execution is so excessive.

I read somewhere that an autopsy was performed on the alpaca that was put down 4 years ago and there was no sign of tb.

There are some rare ancient cattle at Chillingham. When there was foot and mouth in the area they came very close to having to be culled. They had managed to move some of them to Scotland in case anything like that happened but it still would have been a disaster in that they are truly wild and unique. For some reason Geronimo keeps making me think of Typhoid Mary. Can you be a silent carrier of TB?

Just shows we only value animals for their ££ potential. Killing badgers and alpacas to save cows who are seen as money making machines. The alpaca would be kept in isolation. I bet if it was peoples pet dogs or cats there would be even more of an outcry. The owner is asking for a test appropriate to alpacas which she would abide by if it was positive. No sensible reason why not apart from “computer says no”.