Amber Heard won’t be prosecuted in a dog smuggling case in Australia. (Heard image via Win McNamee/Getty Images;dog picture from court exhibits from the UK trial)
The Australian government has declined to prosecute actress Amber Heard for perjury related to her smuggling of two dogs into the country in 2015.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry posted a statement Tuesday announcing the decision. Heard had pleaded guilty to providing a false immigration document in 2016 after she failed to declare two teacup Yorkies, Pistol and Boo, when entering the country a year earlier.
The department collaborated with agencies, both in Australia and overseas, to investigate these claims against Heard, the agency wrote.
“A brief of evidence was referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, who has made the decision not to prosecute in this instance having applied the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth,” the department said.
Law&Crime learned last year that the FBI had assisted the Australian government with collecting statements from witnesses related to allegations that Heard lied to the court.
The agency was investigating whether Heard lied to the court during her plea hearing. She claimed she was tired and made a mistake on the paperwork and blamed members of her staff for the error. Emails and other correspondence came to light during the UK libel trial between Heard’s ex-husband, Johnny Depp, and The Sun newspaper, raising concerns Heard had asked staff to lie for her about the dogs.
Australia has strict biosecurity laws that require dogs to be declared and quarantined when entering the country because invasive species could threaten the country’s agriculture industry. When Australian authorities learned the dogs were in the country in 2015, the dogs were ordered to be deported or euthanized.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard recorded an apology video in 2016 surrounding an incident where Heard brought two teacup yorkies to Australia without the appropriate permission in 2015. (Image via YouTube screengrab.)
The controversy over dog smuggling created an international media frenzy. Heard was visiting Depp in Australia while he was filming an installment of his “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. He sat next to Heard while filming a video apologizing to the people of Australia for the dog incident.
Australian officials had been investigating the allegations of perjury since at least 2021. Some Australian officials were angry the investigation was taking so long. The DAFF had told Law&Crime in May the investigation was ongoing. Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce called for Heard to be charged in an episode of Law&Crime’s Sidebar podcast last year.
Joyce, now a member of Australia’s House of Representatives, had called for the deportation of Pistol and Boo in 2015. He also engaged in a war of words with Heard, who then named another one of her dogs Barnaby.
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