LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - British vets have killed an
eight-year-old alpaca, whose fate triggered an outcry against
Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the government ordered the
animal to be put down because of positive tests for bovine
tuberculosis.
The order to kill the alpaca led to pleas from owner Helen
Macdonald for Johnson and his wife Carrie to show mercy,
prompting some celebrities to demand the prime minister swerve
away from what they cast as a public relations disaster.
Geronimo's owner, Helen Macdonald, and protesters had shown
up at her farm to guard him from executioners. More than 140,000
people had signed a petition calling for the creature to be
saved.
"The infected animal was moved from the premises and
euthanised by staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency
(APHA) as a necessary measure to control the spread of bovine
tuberculosis," the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs said in a statement.
Macdonald, a veterinary nurse, said the alpaca was negative
when he was brought in from New Zealand and she had spent
thousands of pounds on a failed court battle to save the animal.
A spokesman for the prime minister said it is highly
distressing for someone to lose an animal.
"Our sympathies are with Ms Macdonald and others that are
affected by this terrible disease," he said.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)