Australia to Johnny Depp: Your smuggled dogs must go or be euthanized

Australian authorities say actor Johnny Depp has smuggled in his two Yorkshire terriers in violation of Australia’s strict animal importation regulations, and the pets will be euthanized unless they’re on their way back to Los Angeles by Saturday.

Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce is accusing Depp of sneaking Pistol and Boo aboard his private jet when he returned to Australia on April 21 to resume filming the fifth movie in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” saga at Gold Coast studios, according to news reports from Australia.

Joyce’s department Wednesday gave the 51-year-old Depp, and his wife, Amber Heard, 29, a 72-hour notice to start their pets on the 7,200-mile journey home.

Australia has strict quarantine regulations to prevent diseases such as rabies. Bringing foreign pets to Australia involves applying for a permit and placing pets in quarantine for at least 10 days.

The Agriculture Department discovered that Depp had brought his dogs after reports that they had been taken in a handbag to a Gold Coast dog groomer in Maudsland, Queensland, on Saturday, Joyce said.

The filming of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” was interrupted in March when Depp cut his hand on a glass door. He brought the dogs back on his return flight from the United States, where he underwent surgery.

— City News Service