Rover to the Rescue

In the past couple years, it appears that more and more individuals around the world have found that they are involuntarily sharing space with some very unwelcome critters: bed bugs! According to the on-line Wiki article, bed bugs were nearly eradicated in the developed world in the early 1940s. Since the mid-90s, however, they have made a sensational - if uncomfortable for us all - comeback. As recently as March 2012, ABC News reported that pest control companies in the US have reported a 33.6 per cent increase in treatments to kill the pesky and unwanted little visitors. Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Denver and Los Angeles rank among the Top Five US cities for the number of bed bug treatments performed between January and December 2011.

In 2010, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) released its first-ever comprehensive global bed bug study to determine the extent of beg bug resurgence. The study concluded that the world is "on the threshold of a bed bug pandemic." So, along with all the world's other problems, we now have to confront a pandemic from pests that were nearly eradicated in the first half of the last century. This is definitely two steps backward. At least.

Bed bugs are infecting homes, apartments, retail stores, offices, places of worship, college dorms, hospitals, day cares, modes of transportation, movie theaters - basically all places where human beings live and gather. They are the size and color of an apple seed, like to travel and will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes. Besides mattresses and headboards, which used to be their usual haunts, they can now be found behind electrical switch plates, baseboards, picture frames, wall paper, upholstery and in furniture crevices. They are more difficult to treat for than cockroaches, ants and termites.

But "Man's Best Friend" offers hope. In response to a pest control market gap, the Florida Canine Academy trains "BedBugDogs" to detect bed bugs. The academy certifies the dogs and sells them. In fact, two are present and working for Scandog, a local Geneva business, which bills itself as the first Swiss company specializing in the detection of bed bugs.

Local businessman Didier Frey and his two certified BedBugDogs, Lucky, a Jack Russell terrier and Mailo, a golden lab, provide this service. Lucky specializes in smaller spaces while Mailo patrols larger ones. They were featured in Saturday's Geneva Tribune and have also received recognition in "News on Dogs."

While I hope that I will never need their services, it's good to know that they're around!