Auction dealer who tried to sell rugs made from endangered tigers spared jail

For sale: The Javan tiger rug was advertised in an online auction
Met Police
Jamie Bullen29 September 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

An online dealer was today spared jail after she was caught trying to auction off rugs made from endangered tigers.

Dovile Vaitkeviciute, 31 was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for trading in endangered species without certification at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

Vaitkeviciute was fined £685 and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.

She pleaded guilty to the offence in September after officers from the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit found an advert for a ‘Javan’ tiger skin rug on an auction website.

Sentenced: Vaitkeviciute was sent to prison for six months suspended for two years
Met Police

For the rug to be an antique, and therefore saleable without a certificate, the tiger used to make it would need to be killed before 1947.

But suspicions were raised when the rug appeared to be in a better than expected condition.

In May 2014, a warrant was executed to raid Vaitkeviciute's home in Mark Road, Haringey where several skins were seized and examined by a wildlife inspector.

Experts determined the tiger used to make the rug had been killed in the 1970s, more than a quarter of a century beyond the acceptable time boundary for trade in endangered animal skins.

Illegal: Detectives said Vaitkeviciute made a false statement to authorities to import a "Bali" tiger rug
Met Police

During the investigation, Vaitkeviciute offered a further tiger skin rug for sale online and suggested it may be a 'Bali' Tiger.

She claimed the skin was a gift from someone in Italy and that it was made before 1947 but this was ruled out by a wildlife inspector.

Detectives discovered that Vaitkeviciute had in fact paid £2,500 for the skin and had therefore provided false information to authorities in relation to the import of the item.

She was also charged with making a false statement in order to obtain a certificate.

Detective Constable Sarah Bailey of the Met's Wildlife Crime Unit said: "There are guidelines for dealers in endangered species and in some cases it is clear that the dealers are aware of the regulations but take the decision to disregard them for financial gain.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in