The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) is buying a bed bug dog to sniff out public housing buildings for bed bugs. NWCN reports:
In Seattle Housing Authority low-income buildings over the past three months the problem has exploded. The critters are becoming resistant to insecticides.
Now the SHA is spending $35,000 to take control.
Smart thinking — because we’re told many (if not most) people do not react to bed bug bites.
If you don’t react, and you don’t see bed bugs, you do not complain. And so your apartment stays infested with no one the wiser.
A pro-active inspection program is a great idea for any apartment building. No, bed bug dogs are not 100% effective in sniffing out bed bugs, but they do a lot better than most humans, I’d venture.
Done properly — with a well-trained bed bug k9 and a knowledgeable trainer — this detection method can be effective. And less time-consuming than having an experienced PCO search (which, many tell us, takes more than an hour to do properly, in a not-very-big apartment).
The SHA is also investing in thermal remediation technology (ThermaPure Heat). And the SHA will be educating residents on how to spot bed bugs.
But one of the best things they can do is keep that bed bug k9 “Bugsy” circulating around and around the units of SHA buildings, before anyone complains about a single bite or sighting.
Combining an effective and pro-active detection method with an effective bed bug remediation method?
Smart, Seattle Housing Authority. Smart.
