Depending on where you are in the world, you may have heard about the kerfuffle around Johnny Depp’s dogs in Australia. The lesson learned? Even movie stars need to be aware of pet policies across borders.

Photo Credit: Chicago Man cc
Photo Credit: Chicago Man cc

He may play a pirate on the big screen, but the Australian Minister of Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, has made it clear the actor won’t get away with smuggling his pets past Australia’s quarantine laws again.

The whole thing started after it was discovered that Depp had smuggled in his two Yorkshire Terriers on his private jet so they could stay with him while he filmed another “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel. The Australian government then issued a statement saying that his dogs would either be exported or they would be put down, giving the movie star 50 hours to decide whether he would abide by the law.

This may seem a bit harsh, but as Nancy Halpern of Animal Law Update notes, animals crossing borders can bring about a lot of nasty bugs that the locals aren’t used to—and it’s a huge problem that may sometimes have deadly consequences. As Halpern writes after a strain canine influenza similar to the Asian strains of the virus spread to the U.S.:

The CDC and USDA have concerns about dogs and puppies imported from countries without proper vaccinations, with forged importation documents, or potentially infected with contagious, infectious disease.  While there is no definitive proof that the current canine influenza outbreak was introduced from imported, infected dogs, that is certainly one possibility.

But there are others.  Influenza viruses are fairly easily transmitted in animals, people and inanimate objects, so the current outbreak may not have been introduced from imported infected dogs.

However, since the movement of dogs across national and state lines for rescue or adoption poses a risk of disease transmission, additional regulations and enforcement thereof should be a priority to protect animals and people from unnecessary exposure to infectious, potentially deadly diseases.

So far no reports have been released that Depp’s dogs were carriers or damaged local life in any other way (aside from the lives of 20,000 people who signed a Change.org petition pleading for amnesty for Depp’s dogs). But it’s not unheard of for animals to be brought into an ecosystem only to adapt far too well to the local climate.

Luckily, Depp’s dogs were flown out of the country late Friday afternoon (Pacific time) and so the only downside of this story is that there’s still more “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels in the pipeline. But this saga of illegal canine visitation is a good reminder that if you plan on bringing a pet with you across borders, you should be aware of the rules surrounding incoming animals at your destination. Because as Jones notes, “even though they’ve been the sexiest man alive, twice” people can’t expect to get an exemption from proper quarantine procedure.