Last month, Johnny Depp finally surfaced in Australia to film the fifth Pirates movie. Disney practically had to move mountains to get him there. His arrival date was pushed back for weeks, and he disappeared at one point. It probably took forever to pack all those scarves and necklaces and get Amber Heard on board. Perhaps some of the official international travel requirements were overlooked … or maybe Johnny and Amber figured the guidelines didn’t apply to them. The two newlywed messes brought Amber’s wee Yorkshire Terrier, Pistol, and Lily Rose’s dog, Boo, along for the voyage.

Australia runs a tight ship on imported plants and animals. They are very wary about even letting fruit come into country. When it comes to dogs, Australia’s guidelines are extensive but readily available. The country is very serious about protecting the ecosystem from foreign diseases like rabies or Lyme disease. Now there’s a #waronterrier brewing on Twitter because Amber and Johnny imported their two dogs via private jet. Australia has ordered the dogs into quarantine. Even worse, officials say Johnny must remove the dogs by this weekend, or Pistol and Boo will be euthanized:

Actor Johnny Depp has been told he has until Saturday to remove his dogs from Australia or they will be put down.

Depp and his wife Amber Heard are accused of not declaring Yorkshire Terriers Boo and Pistol to customs officials when they flew into Queensland by private jet last month.

Australia has strict animal quarantine laws to prevent importing infections. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said he understood the dogs were being sent back to the US. The dogs were discovered when a picture was posted of them at grooming parlour

“I personally as a minister don’t have Mr Depp’s phone number, nor does he have mine,” Mr Joyce told the BBC. “But my department is informed they are organising for the dogs to be sent back to the United States. “I’d say that is the wisest move.”

An online petition to save the “cute dogs” had received nearly 5,000 signatures by late on Thursday local time in Australia. “Have a heart Barnaby! Don’t kill these cute puppies,” it appealed.

Mr Joyce said in an earlier interview: “If we start letting movie stars even though they’ve been 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.”

The dogs’ illicit entry appears to have been uncovered after a grooming salon on the Gold Coast posted pictures of them on its Facebook page. Biosecurity officials visited the vast Gold Coast house Depp and Heard are renting on Wednesday.

“The dogs have been ordered into quarantine and the owners have been advised the dogs must be exported within 72 hours,” said a statement on the agricultural ministry website.

[From BBC]

Death sentences for the dogs does seem like high drama, but Australia doesn’t mess around when it comes to biosecurity. It’s not like Australia keeps their requirements a secret either. Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Bart brought his pet frog along, and the creature disrupted the entire balance of nature? These guidelines aren’t sitting on a dusty bookshelf, they’re part of popular culture. Johnny and Amber (or their people) should have known better than to bring Pistol and Boo along without proper declarations. These two dogs shouldn’t be put to death (and that won’t happen), but they need to return to the United States.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN