Sad news, folks. Manny, a dog trained to sniff out pirated DVDs, has died in Malaysia. The AP is reporting that the dog “died of an unknown cause” and that Malaysian authorities don’t suspect foul play, but then added that two other dogs that helped uncover 1.6 million pirated DVDs last year “reportedly caused movie pirates to place a bounty on their heads.” I’m no cop but there’s your suspicion of foul play, officers.
Apparently the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) owns a few of these dogs and lends them out to various governments to help crack down on piracy. Although the dogs “cannot distinguish between real and pirated DVDs,” they’re able to help officers find counterfeit discs hidden in areas suspected to contain such items.