Snoop Dogs: High Honors for Malaysian Piracy Hounds

by Jordan Yerman | August 20, 2007 at 07:59 am

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The Motion Picture Association of America has funded and implemented two DVD-sniffing dogs in its quest to secure the distribution deals of its member studios. Pirates find these canines far less cute, placing a bounty on their elongated heads. After Reading this, I bet you're going to grab a DVD and see if you can smell anything.

Two dogs trained to sniff out DVDs received medals from the Malaysian government on Monday for a five-month campaign that crippled movie pirates.

Lucky and Flo, black Labradors trained to detect the chemicals used in making DVDs, were the first animals to receive the outstanding service awards for finding discs stockpiled by pirates, the Motion Picture Association said in a statement.

The canine campaign led to 26 arrests and seizures of illegal discs worth over $6 million.

"The dogs have proven to be a major asset in our fight against the pirates and we intend to continue what Lucky and Flo have set in motion," S Veerasingam, Malaysia's deputy minister for domestic trade and consumer affairs, said in the statement.

Malaysia, which figures on a U.S. watchlist on piracy, has dramatically stepped up efforts to rein in copyright pirates as it negotiates a free-trade pact with Washington.

The success of Lucky and Flo has prompted the ministry to set up its own canine unit to fight the pirates, and the MPA, which arranged for their trial by Malaysian officials, plans to donate two new dogs to the unit by the end of the year.