pet connection

These handsome retrievers are Lucky and Flo, two dogs trained to sniff out DVDs. They’ve been honored by the Malaysian government, and will soon be touring North America, according to the Reuters:

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.

Here’s the rest of the Reuters store. What else have dogs been trained to detect? From our new book, here are a few more:

• Drugs: Dogs can be trained to sniff out all kinds of illegal drugs, finding them not only on people but also in massive cargo containers, long-haul trucks and school lockers.
• Plant matter: Since fresh fruit and vegetables can bring in insects and diseases with the potential to cause great damage to agriculture, dogs are used to detect the foodstuffs in the luggage of people coming through customs. Dogs are also used to sniff out invasive weeds in field, so the plants can be eradicated before they take hold.
• Insects: Termites? No problem. Dogs are also being used to detect the resurgence of bed bugs in big cities.
• Mold: Not just mold that bedevils homeowners, but also mold that puts the vines at wineries at risk from the spread of disease.
• Explosives: Meetings of high public officials would be hard to imagine without the diligent work of bomb-sniffing dogs. To take it a bit further, dogs are even being taught to sniff out cell phones that could be used to detonate a bomb.
• Cows in heat: A lot of money depends on being able to artificially inseminate a cow without wasting time guessing when she’s ready. While a bull could tell, he’s not usually available, since as his contribution usually arrives on the scene frozen. A dog can tell when the cow is most fertile—although it’s a good bet he couldn’t care less.
• Cancer: While cancer detection is still in the trial stage, it’s looking pretty promising that dogs can spot a malignancy. Some day your doctor may order up a “Lab test” and mean Labrador!
• Chemicals: Dogs have been to look for items as varied as mercury and the components of potentially pirated DVDs, as noted above.

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