Australia Threatens To Kill Johnny Depp's Dogs

Australia Threatens To Kill Johnny Depp's Dogs

Johnny Depp allegedly snuck his two dogs into Australia -- and if he doesn't send them home by Saturday, they'll face the doggie death penalty.

"Mr. Depp has to either take his dogs back to California, or we're going to have to euthanize them," Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said in a video posted online by ABC Australia.

Joyce said Depp brought his Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, via a chartered plane into the country, where he's filming the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. He suggested that Depp use the same plane to send them home.

"It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States," Joyce said.

Joyce said people who want to bring pets into the country need to get permits and go through the quarantine process, which exists to keep disease out of the country.

"The reason you can walk through a park in Brisbane and not have in the back of your mind 'what happens if a rabid dog comes out and bites me or bites my kid' is because we've kept that disease out," he said in a TV interview, according to ABC Brisbane. "I'll tell you how close it is: it's in Bali, it's just next door. So this is not fanciful stuff, and therefore we're very diligent about what comes into our nation."

Joyce said Depp's status as a global icon doesn't mean he can break the rules.

“If we start letting movie stars –- even though they’ve been the sexiest man alive twice -- to come into our nation then why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?”

The dogs are currently in a home quarantine, and a Depp spokesperson did not return a request for comment, according to the Associated Press.

Some fans have created a petition to "save" Depp's dogs. However, Joyce said the best way to save the dogs is to send them home -- and the Courier Mail newspaper reports that Australia rarely euthanizes animals in these situations as in most cases the owners do just that.

The Australian newspaper reports that Depp's wife, actress Amber Heard, is negotiating with the department.

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Joyce said Depp's dogs were spotted in the country when they were brought to a poodle groomer. The groomers told the Gold Coast Bulletin that the dogs needed a trim.

"They wanted the dogs groomed somewhere that’s a bit more private and we’re right near the set anyway," Happy Dogz groomer Lianne Kent told the newspaper. "They were in a little handbag. It was an awesome-looking handbag that smelled beautifully of perfume."

The Gold Coast Bulletin also reports that Depp had donated $1,000 to sponsor a week-old premature bat named Jackie Sparrow in his honor.

“He has a special interest in bats," Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre director Trish Wimberley told the newspaper.

But it's the dogs that have become the big story in Australia, and on Thursday members of the media were camped out near the home where Depp has been staying:

ABC Australia said a notice about the dogs was delivered to the home. However, the dogs have not been seized and have been spotted at the home, according to the network's website.

Joyce told AP his department would be responsible for euthanizing the dogs if they remained in the country.

"After that, I don't expect to be invited to the opening of 'Pirates of the Caribbean,'" he told the news agency.

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