The row over Geronimo the alpaca has escalated as his owner suggested a post-mortem examination revealed he did not have Bovine TB – something the chief veterinary officer disputes.

The animal’s owner, Helen Macdonald, requested a copy of the post-mortem examination after Geronimo was culled by government officials, following a four-year battle over his TB status.

In a statement, her lawyers said: “As reviewed by Dr Iain McGill and Dr Bob Broadbent, the preliminary gross post-mortem findings are negative for visible lesions typical of Bovine Tuberculosis.

“For clarity there are no white or cream caseous, enlarged abscesses typical for bTB in alpacas whether in the lungs, bronchial, mediastinal or retropharyngeal lymph nodes.”

However, the chief veterinary officer denies these claims and insists a “number of TB-like lesions were found” and are being further tested.

Dr Christine Middlemiss said: “These tests include the developing of bacteriological cultures from tissue samples which usually takes several months – we would expect to complete the full post-mortem and culture process by the end of the year.”

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