ANDERSON PEST SOLUTIONS
EMPLOYS SCOOBY AS A NEW LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST BED BUGS
Elmhurst, Illinois, November 12, 2010
Bed bugs are back! And a recent survey by the National Pest Management Association suggests a growing global pandemic.
Terminix ranks Chicago 5th among the 15 most bed bug infested cities in the U.S.
So, what's our front line of defense against these disgusting creatures? A little dog named Scooby! He's 20 pounds of tail wagging hustle. Scooby loves the dirty work of sniffing out bed bugs.
Linda DeVelasco from Bed Bug Solutions, Inc., and her beagle hound Scooby, have their work cut out for them today. "I go to five star hotels, I go to million dollar homes- I find em," said DeVelasco.
Linda and Scooby have been hired by Anderson Pest Solutions to inspect a very old, very large, men's residential facility in Chicago. We promised anonymity due to the stigma of bed bugs. The facility has had bed bugs before, but this is the first time they've used a dog to find them.
Facilities Director Peter Baker was all for it. "I jumped on it right away because I had read some articles about the efficiency of dogs inspecting. And, I'm a dog lover so it was kind of a perfect fit."
JT Barnard from Anderson Pest Solutions says using dogs to sniff out bed bugs isn't cheap. "It can be cost prohibitive for a lot of folks to use a dog. Some folks, like college dormitories for instance, that like to have a nice sweep of the whole building, and having a dog do that really helps."
Linda says using dogs more be a little pricey, but they're far more efficient. "The most patient guy doing his best, if he's got 100 unit apartment building to go through, by the time he gets to the 99th unit, probably tired."
Tom Dobrinska is Anderson's entomologist. "Bed bugs are tiny creatures, the adults are about the size of an apple seed. They need blood to produce eggs. They generally hop on for a blood feeding at nighttime when you're sleeping. A lot of people's skin will not even feel the bite of a bed bug."
Linda keeps a small glass jar of bedbugs, in stages from eggs to adults, to remind Scooby what he's looking for. The first few rooms they inspect are bed bug free. Until they hit the second floor. "The dog is trained to find up to one single egg. Here right here, BINGO! The worst part of my job is actually having to tell somebody that they do have bedbugs."
This time, she has to break the news to Pete Baker. "We don't know how hard it will be to actually really finally get rid of them. And even if that's ever gonna be possible given the situation today with the bed bug epidemic."
Linda says under the right conditions, one bed bug can turn into 31-thousand in six months. They love bedding and wood furniture and can travel through walls via outlets and light switches. The Anderson team will be back to spray. But, in the meantime tells Peter to have the residents put all their clothes in a plastic bag, take them downstairs to the dryer, then throw the bag away and bring the clothes back up in a clean plastic bag. And experts like Dobinska and DeVelsasco also offer reassurance.
"If you have bed bugs it's not the end of the world if you have the right program in place. There's nothing that anybody does to cause bed bugs. There's nothing you can do to prevent them. They are what they are. They're hitch-hikers." And Scooby is what he is... a highly trained bed bug sniffing dog with another job well done. Linda says Scooby is certified up to be up to 98% accurate. Why bed bugs why now?
Most people blame international travel. But, the anderson folks think it's a combination of travel and the bed bugs' resistance to some chemicals. And if you're wondering about the risks for Scooby and the pest control experts, so far, they've never brought home bed bugs, and Linda says Scooby gets more baths than any dog rightfully should.
