London

Pest control experts in the UK are unleashing sniffer dogs in homes, hotels and businesses to combat the menace of bed bugs.

Advertisment

Several hotels and businesses have been battling an explosion of infestation ever since the decline of COVID-19 boosted tourism.

While the rise of bedbugs has been causing trauma for many, it has boosted the business of UK specialist firms that have trained sniffer dogs to detect the infestation everywhere from private homes to five-star hotels.

On average, these firms charge £150 to £350 for a three-bedroom house. 

Advertisment

Booming business 

Gary Jakeman, the chief executive of K9 Detection Services in Solihull in the West Midlands, told the Guardian that he is being sought after by many luxurious hotels to tackle the menace.

“We’re getting more and more interest. We’ve probably had a 25% increase in callouts since June,” said Jakeman, who has two trained springer spaniels, Milo and Kobie.

Advertisment

“These dogs are spot on. There’s very little that can get past a well-trained nose.”

The dogs are trained in the same manner they are taught to smell drugs, explosives and stashes of money.

How dogs sniff out bedbugs

In the case of bedbugs, the dogs can detect a pheromone the insects release to help them group together. It usually takes at least a year to 18 months to train a new dog to sniff out bedbugs.

“In very high concentrations, you can smell it yourself,” Dr Richard Naylor, the director of the Bed Bug Foundation, which provides information on the insects and works with canine training schools to certify dogs for bedbug detection, told Guardian. “They produce a very pungent, recognisable smell.”

Moreover, the efficacy of dogs in tracing the bedbugs far surpasses the typical methods employed by pest control.

Also read | England-based prep school appoints AI robot as headmaster

"It could take someone in pest control 20 minutes to find the bedbugs, if they can find them," Leith, of BDL Canine Services in South Lanarkshire, told the Daily Star.

Also read | Study reveals latest SUV models emit more climate damaging gases than older ones

"To search the whole floor of a hotel is very time-consuming for humans. My boy can sometimes find them in less than ten seconds," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE