Beagle sniffs out bed bug

STAMFORD -- To fight an ongoing pest problem, St. Luke's LifeWorks turned to a 3-year-old expert last week.

The organization, which provides housing and education to those in need, hired Ellie, a beagle, and her handler through Bliss Exterminators to determine which offices and residences in the Franklin Street headquarters have been besieged by bed bugs.

After discovering bugs in the first-floor city health clinic earlier this month, St. Luke's was forced to halt clothing donations until protocols could be put into place to prevent the spread or reintroduction of the bloodsucking parasites, which reappeared in many communities in the past few years.

"Our priority is our people," said Johnnie Malloy, St. Luke's chief learning officer. "We're hoping to resume the clothing donation soon, but for now, people should consider other places, like Person to Person, the Salvation Army and Goodwill."

Ellie, an energetic brown-and-white dog, strained at her leash Friday as her owner, Charlie Mastroberti, calmly led her around the perimeters of the lobby in the large downtown complex searching for a live bed bug he had hidden in a prescription pill bottle.

When Ellie sniffed a recycling bin, she scratched at the box and looked expectantly at her owner.

"Good girl," Mastroberti said, giving the a dog treat. "It helps her get on track, and the reward system gets her psyched."

Using beagles or other dogs to find bed bugs is becoming standard in the pest detection and control industry.John Pascarelli, a regional account manager for Bliss Exterminators, said the company, which serves Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, has six dogs trained to find bed bugs that are no bigger than an apple seed.

Ellie has a 98 percent bed bug detection rate compared with human detection, which can be as low as 30 percent, Pascarelli said.

"We could spend a week here and not be nearly as successful as a dog in a couple of hours," he said.

Ellie was trained at J&K Canine Academy in Florida and is certified by the National Entomology Canine Scent Detection Association, Mastroberti said.

Pascarelli said he met with building residents before the inspection last week to explain to procedures and treatment, and relieve any anxieties.

"They were thrilled to get the dog inspection," he said.

After the two-hour inspection, Bliss found four areas in the building that showed bed bug activity: three residential areas and one office space.

Pascarelli said it was "minor activity" for a building that size.

Treatment will begin this week, he said.

Malloy said that in the meantime, the organization is in need of new twin bed sheets.

It's not connected to the bed bugs, she said, but when you serve 250 people, you always need new sheets.



Source:
By Devon Lash
STAFF WRITER