Amber Heard charged for smuggling pet dogs into Australia

LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) -- Amber Heard was charged this week for smuggling her pet dogs into Australia.

The 29-year-old American actress faces a maximum of 10 years jail time and/or a fine of $75,000 for illegally bringing her and husband Johnny Depp's dogs, Boo and Pistol, into the country by private plane in May.

Heard, reportedly the technical owner of the pets, failed to declare the Yorkshire Terriers to customs and quarantine the pair for the requisite 10 days. She is also charged for producing a false or misleading document, likely her customs card.

Heard and Depp were in Australia as the actor filmed the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Their dogs were discovered after a local groomer posted a photo of Boo and Pistol, and the couple flew the terriers out after agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to euthanize them.

"I have a feeling we're going to avoid the land Down Under from now on, just as much as we can, thanks to certain politicians there," Heard said on Australian show Sunrise following the incident. "I don't know, I guess everyone tries to go for their 15 minutes, including some government officials."

Heard has been summoned to appear in a Queensland court on September 7. She and Depp met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2009, and started dating in 2012. The couple married in Los Angeles in February, and followed up with a ceremony in the Bahamas.