AKIPRESS.COM - Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has been given an ultimatum by Australia - to send his 2 pet dogs back to the United States or they will be killed.

Depp is in hot water with the Department of Agriculture after failing to declare his two Yorkshire terriers when he flew into Australia on his private jet last month for the filming of the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise.

“He has decided to bring to our nation two dogs without actually getting proper certification and the proper permits required. Basically, it looks like he snuck them in,” agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce told reporters on Thursday. 

The penalties for breaching Australia’s biosecurity laws are severe, according to the agriculture minister.

“Mr Depp has to either take his dogs back to California or we are going to have to euthanise them. He’s now got about 50 hours left to remove the dogs," The Guardian quoted Joyce as saying.

Australia’s strict biosecurity measures are in place in order to keep out canine diseases such as the bacterial infection leptospirosis and rabies.