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posted by CoolHand on Friday May 15 2015, @01:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the dastardly-dogs-down-under dept.

Adam Taylor writes in the Washington Post that Australia's threat to kill Boo and Pistol, two dogs that belong to the American movie star Johnny Depp unless they leave the country by Saturday has made headlines around the world. But the logic behind the threat is typical for Australia, which has some of the strictest animal quarantine laws in the world.

According to the Australian Department of Agriculture, dogs can be imported to Australia but are required to spend at least 10 days in quarantine in the country. There are also a whole variety of other restrictions on the dogs – they can only come from an approved country, they cannot be pregnant, and they must not be a banned breed. The dogs are then required to undergo a variety of tests and be fully vaccinated and microchipped. It's a time-consuming, expensive and complicated process that serves one purpose. Australia is one of a relatively small number of countries around the world that are considered rabies-free. "The reason you can walk through a park in Brisbane and not have in the back of your mind, 'What happens if a rabid dog comes out and bites me or bites my kid,' is because we've kept that disease out," says Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.

[More after the break.]

Australia's geographical distance from much of the rest of the world and its relatively late contact with the West means that its biological ecosystem is unlike those of many other nations. To protect this, the country restricts what can be brought into the country. The impact of alien species on Australian wildlife was made clear early in the 20th century, when the cane toad, indigenous to Central and South America, was introduced to north Queensland in the hope of controlling the local cane beetle population. While the toads had little impact on the beetle population, they unexpectedly thrived in their new environment. Their effects on Australia's ecology include the depletion of native species that die eating cane toads; the poisoning of pets and humans; depletion of native fauna preyed on by cane toads; and reduced prey populations for native insectivores, such as skinks. The population of a few thousand cane toads introduced in 1935 is now in the millions, and are now considered pests that the Australian government is trying to eradicate.

Depp isn't the only American celebrity to run afoul of Australian biosecurity laws. In 2013, a Katy Perry album that featured flower seeds in its packaging triggered a biosecurity alert from Australia's Agriculture Department. "Most people are excited to think that there's an attachment between biosecurity and someone as popular as Katy Perry," said Vanessa Findlay, Australia's chief plant protection officer.

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Friday May 15 2015, @03:42AM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday May 15 2015, @03:42AM (#183225) Journal

    Actually, its that arrogant pampered "Star" that think the rules don't apply to them.

    Any one else would have checked. The fact that they tried to keep the animals hidden from customs suggest they knew the rules.

    After the actor smuggled the two pooches on his private jet he had an assistant take them to a dog groomer; it was here that authorities were alerted to their presence.

    --
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:29AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:29AM (#183229)

    How does traveling with his own dogs on his own private jet constitute smuggling? You're just envious of the man's private jet, aren't you, motherfucker?

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Friday May 15 2015, @05:47AM

      by frojack (1554) on Friday May 15 2015, @05:47AM (#183245) Journal

      How does traveling with his own dogs on his own private jet constitute smuggling? You're just envious of the man's private jet, aren't you, motherfucker?

      It wasn't his own jet, he hired it.

      He hid the dogs from customs officers when he landed. (or did he bribe them to look the other way?)
      He thought the law didn't apply to him.
      Had he not sent the dog out for grooming, he might have gotten away with it.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 5, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday May 15 2015, @09:42AM

        by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Friday May 15 2015, @09:42AM (#183294) Journal

        > Had he not sent the dog out for grooming, he might have gotten away with it.

        I think you mean to say: "He'd have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids and their potentially rabid unquarantined dog"

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Kell on Friday May 15 2015, @06:18AM

      by Kell (292) on Friday May 15 2015, @06:18AM (#183249)

      It doesn't matter who owns the jet. He attempted to bring undeclared, restricted animals into the country in violation of the law. Whether it's drugs, guns, biological specimens, or the family dog - it's smuggling.

      --
      Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @06:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @06:46AM (#183257)

    > Actually, its that arrogant pampered "Star" that think the rules don't apply to them.

    It has nothing to do with him being a star. Hawaii also has a rabies quarantine and 'regular' people try to get around it all the time because they don't want to be away from their pets for that long. I had a friend who smuggled his cat in by drugging it and sticking it in a tube sock that he put in the liner of his jacket.

    It isn't about privilege, it is about emotional attachment and selfishness and everyone is susceptible to that.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Friday May 15 2015, @12:38PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Friday May 15 2015, @12:38PM (#183307) Journal

      I had a friend who smuggled his cat in by drugging it and sticking it in a tube sock that he put in the liner of his jacket.

      That is just sick.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:30PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:30PM (#183390)

        > That is just sick.

        Which is worse?
        Knocked out for 10 hours or 6 months alone in a cage at some government quarantine facility?

    • (Score: 2) by everdred on Friday May 15 2015, @02:35PM

      by everdred (110) on Friday May 15 2015, @02:35PM (#183349) Journal

      I had a friend who smuggled his cat in by drugging it and sticking it in a tube sock that he put in the liner of his jacket.

      Toxoplasmosis is a helluva drug.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by The Archon V2.0 on Friday May 15 2015, @03:15PM

      by The Archon V2.0 (3887) on Friday May 15 2015, @03:15PM (#183356)

      > I had a friend who smuggled his cat in by drugging it and sticking it in a tube sock that he put in the liner of his jacket.
      > It isn't about privilege, it is about emotional attachment

      If you'd put an animal through THAT I'd hesitate to call it an "emotional attachment". I suppose it is in the same way that stalking a woman who dumped you is an "emotional attachment" but we've got better terms for it, about 50% of which contain the phrase "fucked-up".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:27PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @04:27PM (#183389)

        He was a teenager at the time.
        The cat came out of it no worse for wear and lived a long healthy life in paradise.