Malaysia will soon have its own canine unit to fight compact disc piracy with two Labrador dogs brought in from Ireland and based in the country permanently, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Mohamad Shafie Apdal.

Mohamad Shafie said two Labradors trained to sniff out DVDs and CDs will help authorities fight against piracy.

"The dog unit is part of the strategy to overcome the sale of pirated materials," Mohamad Shafie was quoted saying late Monday by state news agency Bernama .

The two dogs will replace Lucky and Flo ( photo ), two black Labradors that have helped authorities sniff out fake music and movie discs worth millions of ringgit since March.

Lucky and Flo - brought in by the US-based Motion Picture Association which investigates piracy for major movie companies - were so successful that piracy syndicates threatened to harm the canine duo.

The dogs are trained to detect polycarbonate and other chemicals used in optical discs. They either freeze or sit when they sniff the chemicals.