Dogs that sniff out pirated DVDs debut in Philippines

The canine versions of Starsky and Hutch have arrived in Manila, where they sniffed through locked steel doors, pointing authorities to stacks of pirated movies during a mall raid Monday.
Nervous stall owners scurried away or locked themselves behind steel shutters when the two Labradors, trained in Ireland to detect optical discs, led government agents and representatives of the Motion Picture Association-International through the Makati Cinema Square mall.

The two female dogs — wearing neon vests stamped with their names — sniffed through glass cabinets, bags and boxes. The pirated discs they found included recent releases such as "300" as well as "Borat" and "Apocalypto."

In the first hour alone, Edu Manzano, chairman of the Philippine government's Optical Media Board, said they seized at least 300,000 pirated discs and arrested 11 people, who face charges of copyright infringement and violation of anti-pornography laws.