Johnny Depp's Dogs Returning Home After Australia Threatens to Euthanize Them
Australia had threatened to euthanize the pooches.
— -- Johnny Depp's Yorkshire terriers Boo and Pistol are headed home to the U.S. today after Australian officials threatened to euthanize them, saying the actor had failed to declare the dogs at customs.
The Australian Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that an officer escorted the two dogs to the airport from the actor's rented property in Queensland, where they had been held under quarantine order, noting that "all costs associated with returning the dogs were met by the owners."
The celebrity's publicist has not commented publicly on the matter.
The saga of Depp's dogs stirred international reactions, after the minister of agriculture, Barnarby Joyce, spoke publicly -- and sarcastically -- about the actor's behavior.
"If you start letting movie stars -- even though they've been the sexiest man alive twice -- to come into our nation [with pets], then why don't we just break laws for everybody?" Joyce said. "It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States."
Today, he tweeted, "Dogs gone."
Joyce told the BBC he believed the dogs were leaving by private jet today, which he said was "the wisest move."
Australian authorities were adamant to remind people about the strict biosecurity requirements for importing pets into the country.
Officials fear that dogs that don't enter Australia according to proper procedures could be carrying diseases such as “rabies, ehrlichia, leishmania, leptospirosis and internal and external parasites," according to the statement issued Friday.
“Any animal which is imported without meeting Australia’s import conditions will be ordered into quarantine and will either be exported or euthanized,” a statement said, adding that dogs must be accompanied by a valid import permit and have undergone relevant testing and health checks confirmed by a government veterinarian from the exporting country.
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