Johnny Depp's Yorkshire terriers 'on death row' in Australia

Johnny Depp has been told that his two dogs will be put down unless they leave Australia in the coming days after he bypassed animal import laws.

The Hollywood actor failed to declare Yorkshire terriers Boo and Pistol at customs after they arrived in the country on his private jet last month. They were only recently discovered after Depp took them to a dog groomer and are now "on death row", says The Guardian.

Under Australian law, dogs brought into the country must be quarantined for a minimum of ten days, or longer if they are suspected of carrying dangerous diseases such as rabies.

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"There is a process if you want to bring animals: you get the permits, they go into quarantine and then you can have them," agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce told ABC news.

He said the actor could not be afforded any special treatment. "If we start letting movie stars - even though they've been [voted] 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."

A petition launched to try and help save Boo and Pistol has already received thousands of signatures. "It's mega. If it keeps going like it is hopefully it will create enough public attention that Barnaby Joyce will make a fair decision," said Namita Sopal, who started the petition.

The story has provoked a global media frenzy, with reporters camped outside the star's Gold Coast mansion, where he is staying while he films the fifth instalment of Pirates of Caribbean.

"Media interest in the story is so intense a mini economy has sprouted up outside the estate with a catering van arriving to feed the press," says the BBC's Wendy Frew. "It might all sound like a bit of fun but Australian quarantine laws are no joke," she adds.