has until Saturday to remove his
dogs from Australia or they will be
put down.
Depp and his wife, Amber Heard, are
accused of breaking import laws by not
declaring Yorkshire Terriers Boo and
Pistol to customs when they flew in to
Queensland by private jet last month.
Australia has strict quarantine laws to
prevent the accidental import of animal
disease and infections.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said
the laws applied to everyone.
He said Boo and Pistol had been "snuck
in" to Australia and were discovered when
they were taken to a dog groomer.
"Mr Depp has to either take his dogs back
to California or we're going to have to
euthanise them," he told reporters on
Thursday.
"He's now got about 50 hours left to
remove the dogs. He can put them on the
same charter jet he flew out on and fly
back out of our nation."
Dogs brought into Australia must by law
be quarantined for a minimum of 10 days
after arrival, longer if they are suspected
of carrying any diseases or ticks.
An online petition to save the "cute dogs"
had received more than 1,300 signatories
by midday on Thursday.
"Have a heart Barnaby! Don't kill these
cute puppies," it appealed.
But Mr Joyce said: "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?
"It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off
back to the United States."
www.josiahdele.blogspot.com
Comments