Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard has been charged with illegally bringing the couple’s dogs into Australia in May and faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

Heard was charged with two counts of illegally importing the pets and one count of producing a false document.

She flew the Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo into the country on a private jet without a two-week quarantine and permit as required. Depp had been filming the fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in Australia at the time.

Penalties range from a hefty fine of Aus $102,000 to more than 10 years in prison.

Heard, who is starring in the current box office hit Magic Mike XXL, has been issued with a summons to appear in a Queensland court on 7 September.

The couple drew international attention in May when the Australian Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce ordered the dogs returned to the United States or be put down.

He told the Australian media that "it's time Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States" adding that he didn't care if Mr Depp had been voted the "sexiest man alive".

Australia has strict animal quarantine laws to prevent importing infections such as Rabies.

In completely unrelated news the Australian government has today confirmed a decision has been taken to cull up to two million feral cats by 2020 as they are ravaging native plant species. Tough place for pet owners!

It's unlikely Karl Lagerfeld will be bringing his millionaire moggie, Choupette, with him to Oz anytime soon.

I'm not feral. I'm financially sound