Biosecurity - It's Important

Here in Australia we take biosecurity very seriously. We enforce strict quarantine for animals coming into the country from places where there are diseases that we don't have here. As a result we are free of rabies and a number of other diseases which are endemic in other parts of the world.

So when actor Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber, brought their dogs, Pistol and Boo, into the country, without permission and avoiding quarantine, there were consequences. Depp and his wife were given 50 hours to have them removed from the country. This was actually quite generous as they could have been seized and put down immediately.

When the inevitable uproar around anything to do with a celebrity broke the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, had a few characteristically blunt words to say and I have to say I think in this case he was completely right. The dogs were sent out of the country and a summons was issued for Depp's wife to appear in the Southport Magistrate's Court last week. She did not appear and the case has now been adjourned until 2 November.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of ten year's jail and/or a fine of $102,000.

Now I wouldn't have bothered to blog about this - I'm not much interested in celebs - but for this interview with Johnny Depp that aired a few days ago. I'm not going to comment on it but see what you think after watching it.