Cornish alpaca farmer awarded for TB testing campaign

Dianne Summers believes testing is the moral and ethical thing to do

A woman from Cornwall has received an award for her campaign to have compulsory TB testing of alpacas.

Dianne Summers, who has a herd of the animals on her farm near Redruth, had to have four put down last year when they tested positive for Bovine TB.

She received the award from the British Alpaca Society, which promotes the welfare of alpacas and llamas.

There is currently no legal requirement to have alpacas tested and some farmers have criticised Ms Summers' campaign.

But Dianne Summers said testing was the responsible thing to do.

Alpacas have little resistance to TB and can die within six months of catching it.

She has been campaigning the have the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs current regulations changed to allow for compulsory testing on an infected herd.

The animals, which originally come from the high plains of Peru, Bolivia and Chile in South America, are normally bred for their wool.

There are about 1,000 alpaca owners registered with the British Alpaca Society in the UK and an estimated 20,000 animals.