Dog days: Australia charges Depp’s wife over pups
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Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, has been charged with illegally bringing the couple’s dogs to Australia — an incident that captured global attention after the nation’s agriculture minister angrily ordered the pooches to get out of the country or face death.
Heard was charged this week with two counts of illegally importing Pistol and Boo into Australia and one count of producing a false document, the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions said yesterday.
The importation charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of A$102,000 (US$75,000). The false document charge, which relates to information on an incoming passenger card, carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of A$10,200.
Heard was issued a summons to appear in a Queensland court on September 7. Her lawyers could petition the court to appear on her behalf, but given the seriousness of the charge, it’s likely she’ll need to appear in person, particularly if she is in Australia at that time, said Bill Potts, a criminal defense attorney based in the Queensland capital, Brisbane.
Even if she is convicted, Heard is unlikely to face a lengthy jail term since the dogs were flown back to the United States before a 72-hour deadline, Potts said.
Australia has strict quarantine regulations to prevent diseases such as rabies from spreading to its shores. Bringing pets into the country involves applying for a permit and quarantine on arrival of at least 10 days.
The doggie debacle began in May, after Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce accused Depp, 52, of smuggling the couple’s Yorkshire terriers aboard his private jet when he returned to Australia to resume filming of the fifth movie in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.
“If we 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 the laws for everybody?” Joyce said at the time. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”
Officials gave Depp and Heard 72 hours to send Pistol and Boo back to the US, warning that the dogs would be euthanized if they weren’t.
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