Last year, actor Johnny Depp and Amber Heard attempted to sneak their Yorkie terriers, Pistol and Boo, into Australia while he was there on an acting gig. Unfortunately they got busted, despite being on a private charter flight. High-handed Australian authorities decided to the proper way forward was to threaten to put the dogs down. That did not happen, thanks to a lot of lawyers and completely useless expense, and in the end Heard and Depp admitted to the charge, paid a $1,000 "good behavior bond" (whatever that is), and were required to publicly shame themselves in a video that no doubt makes ISIS and the Taliban green with envy.
Former Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce -- the high-handed official who threatened to kill the two tiny dogs -- posted the video it to his Facebook page, no doubt thrilled that the background and equipment used to make the video made it look exactly like a hostage extortion video -- which it certainly was.
Well played Australia; you managed to make yourself look like complete ninnies while reminding the world that bureaucrats, the world over, are generally incapable of common sense.
1 comment:
Sorry Patrick, but I have to disagree with you on this one.
Australia takes the threat of introduced species and disease very seriously indeed - having learned the hard way that they can cause untold havoc that includes the destruction of vegetation and the extinction of mammal, bird and reptile species. Consequently they have laws to regulate the import of live animals, and animal products.
Clearly Depp and Heard decided that their status as celebrities with piles of money and lots of followers on Twitter put them above the law, so they could decide for themselves whether to take their dogs to Australia. If the law applies to tourists bringing in fresh fruit and other foodstuffs, and to ordinary immigrants who want to take their pets with them, why on earth should it not apply to media celebrities ?
Given that the Australians were within their rights to have killed the dogs and jailed their owners I suggest that eating a little humble pie let them off lightly - and might get a useful message across to at least some of their conspicuously consuming peers and screen-junky fans.
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