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DVD-sniffing dogs to fight movie piracy

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian authorities said on Monday they hope two specially trained dogs will help police sniff out pirated DVDs and clean up the country’s reputation as an abuser of intellectual property rights.

“The two male Labrador retound that the dogs are very useful in our operations, especially in fighting piracy,” an official said.

Paddy and Manny were donated by the MPAA. They arrived on February 18 and are still adjusting to their new handlers and the tropical weather, Mohamad Roslan said, adding that the dogs may start their work in April.

Paddy, a 2-year-old black Labrador, is from an animal shelter that rescued him from abuse. Manny, a pale-yellow one-year-old, comes from a dog breeder in northern Ireland.

The dogs are trained to sniff out a chemical used in disc production, but they cannot distinguish between real and the pirated DVDs. What they can do is point officers in their raids to hidden caches of disks.

Mohamad Roslan said authorities were taking steps to ensure their safety from angry smugglers, but declined to give any details.

Movie pirates reportedly place a bounty of $29,000 on the heads of the previous team of DVD-sniffing dogs, Lucky and Flo. — AP

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