Dogs Sniffing Out Bed Bugs

By E.B. Solomont, MNN

Bedbugs, the scourge of urban dwellers, have a new, furry enemy: dogs.

Amid a resurgence of the nocturnal parasites, bedbug-sniffing dogs can inspect an apartment, home or office in minutes. “Adorable yet stunningly accurate,” reports the New York Times, the dogs are “the new and furry front line in an escalating and confounding domestic war.”

The Times profiles Cruiser, a bedbug-sniffing puggle and his handler, Jeremy Ecker, who started The Bed Bug Inspectors about six months ago.

Bedbugs, once killed by pesticides like DDT that are now banned in the United States, are back with a vengeance. In New York City, they are particularly onerous and extremely mobile; they can travel through apartment walls, pipes and wiring.

“Those bugs are everywhere,” said Gale A. Brewer, a New York City Council member who convinced the mayor’s office to convene a bedbug advisory board to address policy shortfalls.

Indeed, last year there were 11,000 bedbug complaints in the city, up from 537 six years earlier, according to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. On blogs like bedbugger.com and newyorkvsbedbugs.com, horror stories abound: a Manhattan woman who spent $9,500 on extermination or bedbugs taking over white-shoe law firms, hotels and hospitals.

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Read more: Dogs, Home, Pests, Pets, bed bugs, insects

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sheri P.

10:38PM PDT on Jun 27, 2011

EWWWW! Handlers have to keep bedbugs and let the bugs bite them in order to feed? That is indeed a BIG commitment!
I'm not sure I could make a commitment like that...

June 27
send a green star

Veronique L.

9:24AM PST on Feb 8, 2011

Thank you!

February 8
send a green star

Melody A.

1:06AM PST on Nov 28, 2010

hmm... i had to say this...still i would say one could use diatomaceous earth (the pet and human safe ones)sprinkled around the areas and then in a while vaccum..Result.... no bugs... no overworked little doggies.. rather one could call them (little angels) home and feed them... with loads of love and hugs rather than make them sniff out bugs from the home..
peace

November 28
send a green star

12:55AM PST on Nov 28, 2010

thanks for this article...Nature has a way to balance itself.. i pray these dogs dont get infected and are not over worked neither should they fall sick.. and in return they get loads of love and hugs...

Eva D.

8:41AM PST on Nov 27, 2010

Thanks