Depp’s dogs leave Australia as minister branded ‘clown’
Print Edition
JOHNNY Depp’s pet dogs Pistol and Boo flew out of Australia late yesterday to escape threats to put them down, after a complex and often comical quarantine wrangle.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, who had warned that Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo could be destroyed within hours, tweeted “Dogs gone.”
An agriculture department officer had escorted the dogs to the airport for their flight home, he said in a statement.
“Two dogs that were brought into Australia without meeting our import requirements have now been exported back to their country of origin,” Joyce said.
The minister earlier said there would be an investigation.
“Mr Depp decided that he’d step around our nation’s laws,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Depp, who is in Queensland state to film “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” faces a formal interview with quarantine officers as part of investigations into how the Yorkshire terriers were allegedly smuggled in.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph said Depp and his actress-model wife Amber Heard, who have made no public comments on the issue, told the agriculture department they would fly out with Boo and Pistol last night.
However, Joyce also voiced fears the United States might not let the terriers back in as they might not have the right permits.
That, he said, could still lead to them being put down, adding, “Obviously, my preference is not to destroy these two dogs.”
Depp appears certain to face a fine for breaching Australian laws under which dogs entering from the United States have to spend at least 10 days in quarantine.
“We can’t make an exception for Johnny Depp,” Joyce said. “We have strict laws for a good reason.”
The minister’s call on Thursday for the pets to “bugger off” back to Hollywood sparked a social media frenzy, with thousands signing a petition to save them and the hashtag #WarOnTerrier trending.
Joyce clashed yesterday with one of Australia’s top radio shock jocks who branded the minister “an absolute clown.”
Kyle Sandilands accused the minister of poor judgment as a verbal joust descended into insults on the popular live radio show at KIIS 1065.
“You sound like an idiot. You should have re-worded your statement. You’re a government minister — have some decency,” said Sandilands.
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