CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WSAU) — The detection skills of trained dogs are being put to new use for a Wisconsin-based pest control company.
Jared Woerth is the Special Services Manager for Wil-Kil Pest Control. The company has enlisted the help of several beagles trained in Florida for nearly 100% accuracy and has used them in homes and businesses since 2009. The dogs live and train with their handlers full-time.
Woerth says the dogs have been trained to help with every piece of a bed bug sweep.
He says, “Our dogs will only alert on live bed bugs or viable bed bug eggs so we can utilize our dogs before treatment to find out where the bed bugs are, perform the service, and then we can bring our dogs in on the back end to validate that no more live bugs are in that unit.”
Many commercial and hospitality clients bring the dogs in on a regular basis as a proactive measure, to make sure any bedbugs are found before they multiply… which makes treatment much easier and more effective.
Woerth says that the bug-sniffing dogs travel throughout the midwest checking homes and businesses, saying, “We cover the entire state of Wisconsin. We go into Minnesota, the UP, Iowa, Illinois, so wherever Wil-Kil’s footprint is, these dogs will travel to do that work.”
Bedbugs were thought all but extinct but have made a large comeback in recent years. Woerth says a large factor is a lack of reporting. “When people have bed bugs, they don’t want to tell their landlord, or their friends or family. They try to treat it on their own. That’s what keeps that population thriving.”
Woerth has good news for animal lovers who may fear that the dogs themselves may become carriers for the pests.
He says, “They don’t really like the hair of a cat or a dog, and typically when we’re doing these inspections, these bugs are hiding. They’re going to be in cracks and crevices of bedframes, headboards… Taking those home, either by the handler or the dog, is a very, very low risk.”
As for the inspection process, Woerth says a big part of prep for the homeowner is making sure the area is clear of any other pets.
“We want as controlled of an environment as we possibly can, and definitely don’t want the dogs having too much playtime while they’re at work. They get plenty of time to be a normal dog at home once in a while.”
Early signs of bedbugs are dark blood spots on pillows and empty shells in the home from shedding. If you don’t know much about bugs, you can photograph any questionable bug and send the pictures to Wil-Kil by e-mail for identification. Their address is bedbugs@wil-kil.com.
(Listen to our interview with Jared Woerth on our website, here.)
