In an Australian Senate Committee Hearing held at Canberra last Monday, Agriculture Minister Richard Colbeck told the government officials that Johnny Depp can be facing jail threats of 10 years, or a maximum fine of $265,000, if found guilty, of illegally bringing his two dogs into Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that earlier this month, the Pirates of the Caribbean star, alongside his wife Amber Heard, was allegedly spotted flying into Brisbane on his private jet with his Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo. The ongoing preliminary investigation found out that Johnny Depp, nor his crew, failed to declare the presence of his two dogs - seriously breaking Australia's stringent quarantine statutes.
Officials still remained baffled on how Depp's terriers got into Australia since no dogs were found during the routine plane checks. According to Deputy Secretary Rona Mellor said, "The animals weren't declared nor were they seen", This aroused suspicions on whether the terriers were kept hidden during the investigation. Officials remain mum on the issue to prevent compromising the ongoing investigation.
Depp's Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo were only discovered weeks later when they were taken to a local grooming parlour and photos of them surfaced in the internet. As a result, Ms Mellor suggested that sniffer dogs should also be granted access to private jets to check for other animals.
Depp's pets became "film stars on Facebook", said members of the Australian Senate Hearing Committee.
Barnaby Joyce, Australian Minister for Agriculture, gave Johnny Depp 50 hours to fly the terriers out of Australia. Otherwise, the pups will have to be put to rest.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Richard Colbeck can't help but see the upside of the overwhelming attention the case has received. "There's a lot of people who are much more informed of our biosecurity regime internationally as a result of this event," he said during the hearing on Monday. "It's been a pretty good advertisement for our system," Colbeck added.
