In a new attempt to prevent illegal copying of movies, the Motion Picture Association of America (or the MPAA, as it's best known) sought the help of our ever faithful canine friends. In a statement released today, a spokesperson for the biggest institution in cinema said that they would be making use of Lucky and Flo, a pair of 'DVD-sniffing Labrador Retrievers' (not pictured here).

The huge financial loss that the industry has sustained last year called for such a drastic measure, the representative said. Only in 2005, all the studios lost more than $6.1 billion in revenues, because of the illegal copying of movies and television shows on DVDs and CDs.

The MPAA has been the most active institution in battling movie piracy, with the last measure of this kind dating from this year, in July, that has been called 'Operation Red Card'. It led to the seizure of almost 6.7 million illegal CDs in 12 countries.

Now, where do Lucky and Flo fit in? The two poochies are to sniff out optical discs in baggage and other containers, thus preventing their owners from going to another country to replicate them. From this, one can deduce that the dogs' place of operation will be in the main airports, train and bus stations.

Until they dig in into their work, the dogs will go on an international tour, starting in Hong Kong and Singapore. Then, they will fly to the UK, Mexico and Dubai, before returning to the States and, finally, to Hollywood.