NEW YORK — There’s no need to fear unless you bootleg DVDs.
The movie industry’s real-life “Underdogs” two specially trained black Labradors have sniffed out a large inventory of knockoff discs in the New York City borough of Queens, the district attorney’s office said last week.
The dogs, named Lucky and Flo, participated in a probe resulting in raids on three retail outlets where investigators discovered thousands of hidden DVDs. Titles included “The Simpsons Movie,” “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Underdog,” the film inspired by a cartoon superhero beagle. Three people were arrested and charged with trademark counterfeiting.
Lucky and Flo are sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America, and are trained to identify discs by the scent of chemicals.
It was their first assignment in the United States, following a successful assignment in Malaysia in March. During that stint, they helped unearth nearly 1.9 million DVDs. Twenty-six people were arrested.
The operations were so successful that Malaysian movie pirates were reported to have placed a bounty of $29,000 on the dogs, prompting them to be kept under close guard.
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