Depp's Dogs Dodge Death— but Are They Stateless?

The #WaronTerrier has ended in retreat. Johnny Depp, who sneaked his two Yorkshire terriers into Australia last month, will send his pals back to the US, according to the country's agriculture minister—on a private jet no less. Depp avoided Australia's mandatory quarantine (minimum 10 days) for pets that enter the country when he flew in with wife Amber Heard to film the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The government had threatened to euthanize the dogs by tomorrow. Returning Boo and Pistol to the US is "the wisest move," Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says, per the BBC. "The question is if he breached our laws, then did he follow the correct laws in the US?" he continues. "My worry is will the US let them back in? If not, will they have anywhere to go?"

The dogs were scheduled to fly back to the US today, says Joyce; their fate there isn't yet clear. Depp and Heard may be forced to pay a fine for the trouble, which first came to light when a Queensland grooming salon posted photos of the pets on Facebook. Joyce took quite a bit of heat from social media and a Sydney radio show host, who accused him of making Australians "sound like a bunch of hillbilly redneck losers" by threatening to kill Depp's pets. Joyce's response: "It's the law, mate; that's how it works." The country's strict biosecurity laws are meant to prevent the spread of non-native diseases like rabies, CNN reports. (More Johnny Depp stories.)