The owner, Lisa Fox, has described the family as devastated. According to Daily Mail, she said there has been no help from government bodies beyond standard compensation, which does not cover veterinary bills. The vet bill for the first llama, Stardust, was nearly £15,000, Lisa Fox told major media.
The family also borrowed money for electric fencing to reduce disease spread. According to Daily Mail, Lisa Fox explained that the outbreak began when a llama named Stardust fell ill and died; a post-mortem confirmed TB. The farm also has pigs and cows that have been tested for TB, media reports say.
As a family we are devastated after losing eight llamas to TB. We have been offered no help by the government bodies and we are now closed down for practically the whole of 2026.
The exact compensation amount per llama from APHA remains unknown, and it is unclear whether the 27 isolated llamas will test positive.
Stardust was the first llama that became ill on the farm. He passed away and the post-mortem showed it got TB.
We then had a first set of testing that showed that seven of our llamas were positive with TB. It meant that all of those llamas had to be isolated and had to be put down. The reason why I did it was for the rest of the herd because I love our animals so much I don't look at them as property.
We just lost sleep over it. The effect on your mental health - there's no words. It is like living in a nightmare and you just hope you are going to wake up but the problem is that it's real.
Not being able to do what you love doing is shattering. There needs to be more government support, now we are just left in the cold.