Doomed alpaca triggers outcry

[Leigha]

Lots of controversy. What do you think should happen?

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/doomed-...021-08-09/

[Syne]

Probably more idiotic than protesting the killing of Cecil the lion. Alpaca are not an endangered species, while lions are endangered/vulnerable. Bovine TB may not be as immediate a risk as lions to African villages, but it's still emotional twaddle to risk a new outbreak in food herds, which many countries have fought hard to eliminate.

[C C]

Lots of controversy. What do you think should happen?

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/doomed-...021-08-09/

[reply insert] "...government ordered the animal be put down because of positive tests for bovine tuberculosis. [...] Agriculture Secretary George Eustice said that while the fate of Geronimo was sad, the rules were clear that animals which tested positive for bovine Tuberculosis had to be killed."

Well, at least it didn't look like anyone in that photo was wearing a mask or carrying a hygiene theater bottle of hand sanitizer. That would really look perverse.

EDIT: Oops, on closer inspection I did spot at least two. Shame, shame...

[C C]

"Bovine TB usually affects animals such as cattle, but it can affect practically all mammals causing a general state of illness, coughing and eventual death. It can be transmitted from animals to humans as well as to other animals." https://tbfacts.org/bovine-tb/

From article: As ministers insisted Geronimo must be put down, Johnson's 80-year-old father Stanley appealed for the "judicial execution" to be avoided so Geronimo could live in peace in the English county of Gloucestershire. 

Question is, would he put out to pasture near other livestock? If Bovine TB can potentially cause any mammal to be an infected carrier, then this is a bit crazy unless there's a quarantined container to put him in until he's cured, vaccinated, whatever. (Presumably he'd be in such already, though, if it's a protective death row "prison".) Maybe his human owner and other handlers should be quarantined too. (Little late for that.)
- - - - -
"Because the course of the disease is slow, an animal can spread the disease to many other herd mates before it begins to show clinical signs of disease. So movement of infected but undiagnosed domestic animals and contact with infected wild animals are the major ways of spreading the disease.

What are the symptoms of bovine TB in humans? Some people say that the symptoms of bovine TB are different to the normal symptoms of TB in humans. It is said that young children infected with M. bovis typically have abdominal infections and older patients have swollen and sometimes ulcerated lymph glands in the neck. Other sources say that the symptoms of M. bovis in people are similar to the symptoms of TB caused by M. tuberculosis."

[Leigha]

lol ^

Okay so, the alpaca tested positive. The owner doesn't believe the results, yet doesn't want Geronimo to be retested? Um.

She's a vet, you'd think she'd realize that as sad as it is (and it is), she has to make the tough decision for the rest of her animals, and the safety of the public.

[Syne]

...yet doesn't want Geronimo to be retested?

Sounds like it's solely a cudgel to wield against Johnson.

[Leigha]

...yet doesn't want Geronimo to be retested?

Sounds like it's solely a cudgel to wield against Johnson.

Ah, probably true!