What Happened To Amber Heard And Johnny Depp's Dogs?
Celebrity divorces — or any divorce, for that matter — can be tricky because there is a lot of division of assets involved. If a couple has been together for a long time, it usually means going through the painstaking process of determining where properties would go. It gets even trickier when they have underage children since they must also consider custody arrangements.
And then there are couples who fight for custody of their pets. When Drew Barrymore and Tom Green filed for divorce in 2001 after only half a year of marriage, they fought over ownership of their Labrador retriever, Flossie, with Barrymore winning, per Us Weekly. In 2015, when Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams parted ways, Moore got custody of all their eight pets but later asked Adams for financial support to help care for them. "Although I love our pets, it is overwhelming for me to take care of eight of them all of the time," Moore wrote in her petition at the time (via People). "Without Ryan's help caring for the house and our pets, I have not been able to work as much as I would like."
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard also fought for custody of their dogs when they split. As if their divorce wasn't already complicated enough, Depp and Heard were embroiled in a custody battle over their two pets, Pistol and Boo.
Amber Heard ended up taking care of the dogs
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had a highly-contested divorce. In 2016, Heard filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences," but later accused the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor of being physically abusive. The two had to fight over the terms of their split — and it wasn't until May 2017 that everything was finalized.
Per The Guardian, Depp was ordered to pay Heard $7 million, which she had pledged to give to charities. Meanwhile, Depp maintained possession of their properties in Los Angeles, Paris, and the Bahamas — as well as their vehicles and motorcycles. While they had no children together, they had joint ownership of two Yorkshire terrier dogs named Pistol and Boo, both of which went to Heard. The "Aquaman" actor also kept their horse, Arrow.
Depp was reportedly gutted by this decision, as he "adores both dogs," per The Mirror. A source told the outlet that for Depp, the custody battle for the pets was considered a "war." Depp only "wants them to be happy and finds it unbelievable she is suggesting dividing them," as Heard reportedly only wanted to keep one of the dogs. "They're effectively treated as their kids," they added. "He'll stop at nothing to have Pistol and Boo with him."
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's pets had gone through a lot
Even though their owners were one of the biggest celebrities in the industry, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's pets, Pistol and Boo, did not have it easy.
Aside from the dogs having been involved in a messy custody battle, Australia's agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce once threatened to have the animals put down after Heard and Depp allegedly "smuggled" them into the country. "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," Joyce said of Depp in 2015 (via The Guardian). "We found out he snuck them in because we saw him taking them to a poodle groomer." At the time, Depp and Heard had a choice: Either the dogs would return to California or "we are going to have to euthanize them." The couple was only left with 50 hours to take action.
Pistol and Boo were flown back to the U.S.. However, Heard was charged on two counts of illegally importing animals, per The Hollywood Reporter. She got off easy, however, and only paid a $1,000 fine, per Reuters. She and Depp also recorded an apology video, with Heard saying that Australia is a "wonderful island" and that she was "truly sorry that Pistol and Boo were not declared." But in 2021, she took to social media to share that she had a new dog. And the name? Barnaby Joyce.