A TOOLERN Vale woman is facing charges over smuggling dingoes to the US.
Lyn Watson, co-founder of the Dingo Discovery Centre, which has the world’s largest number of pure dingoes, was charged after a sting by federal investigators.
She has been accused of involvement in the exporting of a shipment of dingoes in 2010.
A federal Environment Department spokeswoman said Ms Watson, 70, had been accused of being complicit in the alleged plot with a Sydney woman, 59, who runs a pet-transporting business.
Investigators allege the women attempted to export the dingoes over 14 days in January 2010.
Five months later, the department received a tip-off from a member of the public.
In August 2010, officers from the department raided properties in Toolern Vale and Sydney and later charged both women.
Ms Watson does not dispute she exported dingo pups overseas but said she did so in a bid to safeguard the species from extinction.
Amid concerns over the survival of pure dingoes in Australia, Ms Watson said her last hope was to send pups overseas where the population could hopefully be conserved through breeding programs.
Australia is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species treaty.
The treaty listed dingoes as a restricted species at the time of the alleged offence. They have since been removed from the restricted list.
The case will be heard at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court next month.
