Dogs Sniff Out Illegal DVDs

Earlier this year bootleg DVDs became even more illegal in New York, and now there's a new way "the man" is cracking down on the bootleggers: with puppies! Metro reports that:

“Dogs are used to sniff out bodies, bombs and drugs,” said Malcolm, who’s now the chief of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America. “We just needed to see if they could be trained to smell the unique chemicals in DVDs. Lo and behold, they can.”

The canines came out to demonstrate their skill at City Hall yesterday, and the only downfall is that they can't differentiate between illegal and legal DVDs and CDs. Hopefully they won't attack anyone after a shopping spree Virgin Megastore. Now if only they could sniff out illegal mp3 downloaders -- they could save the music industry!

The dogs made some big busts in the Philippines and Malaysia recently, receiving a medal of honor (and probably some treats) for finding $6 million worth of pirated goods. Disturbingly, the criminals there have put a price on the heads of the pups to the tune of $30,000! NY Post has more info on yesterday's demonstration, and a photo of one of the pups with Underdog in his mouth.

Photo of non-trained dog with Must Love Dogs via photographyphreakgirl's flickr.