Are Johnny Depp's dogs on death row in Australia? What you need to know
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Version 0 of 1. 1. Bringing a dog into Australia can be a real bitch All cats and dogs that arrive from overseas must spend a minimum of 10 days in an Australian quarantine facility. While that may not sound like much, the animals can only enter if their owners have ticked off a somewhat laborious 19-step checklist. These steps include Australian government-endorsed parasite treatments, vaccinations and health checks, plus a rabies test that must be done at least six months before departure. Related: Johnny Depp's dogs must 'bugger off' to US or face death for entering Australia Overkill? Well these quarantine laws protect animals in Australia from overseas disease, said Queensland RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty. He said it was “disappointing” Depp had allegedly failed to declare his dogs on arrival in Australia (at least according to agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce). “The quarantine laws are there for a reason. The last thing we want to see happen is rabies get a foothold in Australia,” Beatty said. He said he hoped there was no need to have Depp’s dogs put down. 2. Taking a dog from Australia to the US is easy While Australia has some of the strictest quarantine laws in the world, guess which region is the easiest to enter for Australians taking their pets overseas? Yes, it’s the US. Lenny Thomas of pet transport carriers Petravellers said in comparison to Australia, US biosecurity laws are relatively lax because “America has a lot of disease already”. Such laws take into consideration which region a dog is coming from, she said, adding Australia is “one of the cleanest countries in the world when it comes to disease”. 3. Johnny Depp relates deeply to dogs No wonder Depp needed his dogs by his side in Australia – he can really relate to them. In an interview with Details magazine the actor likened churning out yet another chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean to “being a dog at the track”. 4. Depp has been photographed with a lot of dogs There are many, many photos online of Depp posing with a dog: 5. This is not the first time Depp has been hounded for dog-related issues In 2003, Depp attracted heat for perceived anti-US comments in which he likened the country to “a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive”. He told German news magazine Stern he wanted his children, who were four and one at the time, to “see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out”. He later claimed he had been misinterpreted. 6. It’s possible Barnaby Joyce has a pet hate about animal-lovers breaking the law Earlier this year animal rights activists exposed alleged live-bait training in Australia’s greyhound racing industry. Joyce condemned the activists for purportedly trespassing to record evidence of the activity. “You cannot decide to take the law into your own hands. Once you do that, once you make that exclusion that you can break the law for this person then where does it stop?” Joyce said. |