UK vets euthanize alpaca with bovine TB after public battle

LONDON (AP) — British government veterinarians have killed Geronimo, an alpaca whose sentence of death made international headlines and pitted animal activists against the state. Veterinary staff in blue overalls, masks and goggles, backed by police officers, arrived at the western England farm where the animal lives on Tuesday, and took Geronimo from his pen. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed the animal had been euthanized. The controversial camelid had twice testing positive for bovine tuberculosis but his owner had argued the tests were faulty. Animal activists and journalists had camped out at the farm in Wickwar, west of London, vowing to stop the killing. Bovine TB can devastate cattle herds and hurt farm revenues.