GOLD COAST, Australia — Actress Amber Heard has avoided jail time after illegally bringing her two dogs into Australia last May. The wife of Johnny Depp was accused of smuggling her Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country with forged paperwork while Depp was filming another, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie. Once the dogs were discovered, they were given 72 hours to leave the country or be euthanized. The couple put the dogs on a plane just hours before the deadline, however Heard was still facing up to ten years in prison under two illegal importation counts.
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At the time, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, issued a statement condemning Heard and Depp’s behaviour, saying if they let celebrities get away with breaking the rules then “why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?” Despite the dogs belonging to both Depp and Heard, there was only enough evidence to charge Heard. Under Australian law, if you want to bring a pet into the country you have to apply for a permit and quarantine the animal on arrival for at least two days to avoid the spread of any diseases. The strict quarantine laws are in place to protect Australia’s biodiversity.
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- Guilty dogs Pistol and Boo hanging out in the couples temporary home in Queensland.
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- Heard was facing ten years in prison.
Heard and Depp videotaped an apology to the court and expressed their support for the quarantine laws, which Joyce later added to his Facebook page. After the hearing took place last Monday, heard has officially avoided any jail time and was instead sentenced to a one-month good behaviour bond. A one-month good behaviour bond, simply means that heard cannot commit any more offences in Australia over the next month or she will be subjected to a fine of $1,000 AUD. Heard’s lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, revealed to the court that the whole thing had been a “tired, terrible mistake” that occurred because Heard was jet lagged and believed that her assistants had sorted out all the paperwork. Watch the couple’s apology video below, which has become a hit online.
READ MORE: AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THREATEN TO KILL JOHNNY DEPP’S DOGS
References
Via TorontoSun|Youtube|LolWot|
