The public outcry over the culling of Geronimo the alpaca has left me both bewildered and frustrated.
The animal, which twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), was eventually culled on Tuesday (Aug 31) after what felt like a never-ending legal battle and PR stunt to save his life.
Members of the public were outraged that the poor animal had to die.
Couldn’t he be kept away from other animals and allowed to live out his life in peace? Couldn’t they do another test to see if it came back with a negative result?
Some even argued it wasn’t fair because he was “so cute”.
Yes, he was cute and, yes, it was sad for his owner – seeing any animal put to its death is never nice – but it had to happen.
It was simple – Geronimo tested positive for bTB and he had to die.
There is not one rule for alpacas and another for farmers
This isn’t a case of injustice for a poor alpaca – it’s an insight into the devastating consequences of bTB and the heartache thousands of farmers face every year when their cattle are given the same death sentence as Geronimo.
We can’t have one rule for an alpaca because his owner captured the nation’s hearts, and another for the thousands of farmers who work tirelessly 365 days a year to put food on our plates, while losing their beloved cattle to the disease.
We are fortunate north of the border that we are not plagued with bTB in the same way farmers in other parts of the UK are.
Figures from the NFU farming union in England suggest more than 31,000 English cattle were slaughtered in 2019 because of the disease, and more than 3,300 farm businesses were affected.
More up-to-date figures from the UK Government’s Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) say the disease costs taxpayers more than £100 million a year and more than 27,000 cattle were culled in 2020 to curb its spread.
Did the culling of these cattle due to positive bTB tests result in thousands of legal challenges from farmers and people selling merchandise spouting “save my cow”?
No, it did not.
Sadly nobody batted an eyelid (well nobody outside of farming circles) about this, yet they are up in arms about the death of one alpaca.
Protest the lack of bTB vaccines instead
Bovine tuberculosis is an awful disease and most farmers will share the concerns of Geronimo’s owner that the current testing regime is not perfect. However, it’s all we have got and it is there, alongside the strict culling rules, to ensure public safety and to prevent us getting TB.
Surely the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how devastating a contagious disease can be, and why, once you have managed to keep a lid on it, you must work to maintain that status.
I challenge protestors to turn their lobbying efforts towards ensuring governments across the UK do all they can to develop effective bTB vaccines for cattle
The one and only positive from this alpaca pantomime is the stark insight into bTB and the strict test and cull rules which govern our farming industry.
Hopefully the same people who are upset and outraged about the death of Geronimo will gain a new understanding of the hardships many farmers face, and the heartache they suffer when cattle they have reared face an untimely end due to bTB rules.
I challenge them to turn their lobbying efforts towards ensuring governments across the UK do all they can to develop effective bTB vaccines for cattle to improve the control regime for this devastating disease.
Gemma Mackie is Farming Editor for The Press & Journal. She lives on her husband’s beef and arable farm in Angus