14 DAY TRIAL // Johnny Depp could be in serious trouble with Australian authorities, who are showing exactly zero inclination to overlook the fact that he “smuggled” his 2 pet dogs in the country, where he’s shooting “Pirates of the Caribbean 5.” Right now, he’s facing a serious fine and up to 10 years behind bars.
The scandal started earlier this month, when word got out on social media that Depp and wife Amber Heard had brought their 2 Yorkshire Terriers with them to Australia, but had failed to declare them with the authorities and to have them quarantined.
Australia is out to make Depp pay for breaking the law, big time.
Hefty fine and serious prison time
“An Australian Senate committee was told on Monday that if the matter goes to court and the Pirates of the Caribbean star is found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in jail or a maximum fine of $265,000 [€242,474],” People magazine reports.
Considering that the Australian Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, wanted to have the dogs killed unless Depp came back from the US to take them out of Australia within 50 hours, chances are the matter won’t stop here.
As noted above, problems began earlier this month, when Depp had already been in Australia for some time. He had his 2 pooches, Pistol and Boo, taken to be groomed and photos of them popped up on social media.
Authorities realized that he had not declared them when he entered the country, and more importantly, he had not had them quarantined as the law required. At the time, Depp was briefly in the US, so the Minister of Agriculture went to the media to deliver the message to him: come get your puppies out of Australia or they will be euthanized.
It is said that Depp spent $320,000 (€292,798) on getting a private jet to fly from the US to Australia and then back again, to get the puppies out of Australia by that deadline.
“Pirates 5,” plagued by bad buzz online
This isn’t the only negative bit of Johnny Depp-related news since he started working on “Pirates.” If anything, if we’re to believe some of the things written online, it sounds like he’s been dealing with a lot of issues.
First, he mysteriously injured his hand and had to be absent from the set for a few weeks, which caused some delay with the production, already believed to be working on a huge budget.
Then, there have been concerning rumors about his heavy drinking and how it’s interfering both with his performance as an actor and his personal life. Several reports have even said that his marriage to Amber Heard, as new as it might be, isn’t really working out and that she’s considering filing for divorce.
Even assuming all these are just unfounded rumors, it looks like Depp might still have one very serious problem to deal with: the case of his “smuggling” his own pets into Australia.