Two dingoes' lives hang in the balance after DPI denies application

The dingoes named Django and Nahla travelled 2,858km with their owner Justin White from their home in the Daintree in Northern Queensland.

Mr White had raised the dingoes since they were six weeks old at the Lync Haven Rainforest Retreat until COVID-19 hit the business hard and they were forced to sell.

Mr White had found new owners that were prepared to take over the animals once they had sold, however a short while after the deed was done the Department of Biosecurity in Queensland made a sudden announcement that all the wildlife in the sanctuary had to be rehomed.

"I asked if I could keep the dingoes with me in the 280 square metre purpose built dingo enclosure they'd lived in for the last six years, until I found somewhere to house them but Biosecurity told me I had to hand them over," he said.

"When I asked what was going to happen to the dingoes I was told that it was none of my concern."

Mr White said he had then been in a frenzy to find a home for his dogs, worried that they might be euthanised.

"We contacted zoo sanctuaries all the way down the coast to try and house my dingoes but none of them could do it and they all told me they didn't want to attract the attention of the DPI or Biosecurity because it would make it all too hard," he said.

With the time ticking fast and no viable options to fall back on, Mr White said the discovery of Potoroo Palace and their willingness to try and home them had come as "nothing short of a miracle".

"I decided it was by far the best place for them so I got in my car and basically drove the dogs down to Potoroo Palace and spent a week with them settling them in."

Mr White said when he had gotten to Potoroo Palace he had been blown away by their facilities.

"The facilities are absolutely magnificent for the dogs, they've got an acre enclosure, purpose built dens, climbing platforms and trees, sunning rocks and a big pond," he said.

"You couldn't design a better place for the dogs and with mine being humanized and bred in captivity they will thrive off the human interaction that Potoroo offers," he said.

Mr White said he was "so happy to have found a place like that for my dogs", but his happiness didn't last long - not as far as the DPI was concerned.

The DPI had been unimpressed that the application made by Potoroo Palace had only been lodged after the dogs were acquired and therefore denied the application.

On August 30 a NSW Department of Primary Industries spokesperson confirmed that Potoroo Palace had made an application to acquire two dingoes for exhibition at its establishment.

However it had been denied on the basis that a "person must not acquire an animal for exhibition at a fixed establishment without being granted approval by the Department".

"DPI conducted a follow-up compliance inspection at the establishment on 25 August 2022 and found that the facility had acquired the dingoes without approval. This is a contravention of the Exhibited Animals Protection Act 1986," the DPI spokesperson said.

The DPI further confirmed that the matter was under subject of further investigation by the Department.

Potoroo Palace founder Alexandra Seddon said she was shocked that the DPI had refused their application.

"The DPI said they didn't think our staff were capable but on the contrary I am so impressed by our carers and by the knowledge and care they give our animals," she said.

Ms Seddon said the last thing Potoroo Palace was lacking was knowledge and facilities to care for dingoes, since the sanctuary had been housing dingoes since before she took over in 2006.

"Our staff have always looked after dingoes so there's no lack of knowledge and especially not for these new dingoes, not after Justin spent a week introducing them to us and teaching our carers about their particular tendencies," she said.

Ms Seddon said she'd been impressed by the devotion Mr White had for his dogs haven driven from Daintree with the dogs himself and even sleeping in their enclosures with them, to ease the transition into their new home.

Ms Seddon said if the DPI confiscated the dingoes, it could lead to irreversible damage and trauma to the dogs that had already been displaced and carefully rehomed.

"I don't know where they want us to send them but I'm hoping no one comes to confiscate them because that would be death to the Dingo and so traumatic," she said.

"The dingoes are accepting our keepers now and being handled with care. Its a long, slow and delicate process we're talking about here."

The dingoes have been housed at Potoroo Palace since August 10, 2022. The application was put in by Potoroo Palace on August 3, the application was denied by the DPI on August 25.

Ms Seddon, the carers at Potoroo Palace and the previous owner Mr White told ACM they are all hopeful that the matter can be resolved and the dingoes can remain at the sanctuary on the South Coast.

"I hope the DPI will see where we are coming from and realize that our keepers are dedicated to them," she said.