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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"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.
-
What is China doing in Latin America?Today’s Big Question Beijing offers itself as an alternative to U.S. dominance
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
