[Pest Perspectives]

Canine Insect Detection: Will We Lead or Will We Follow?

It is an honor to be able to write a column about what is happening in the industry and then add personal insight. In this column I’ll try to share some thoughts and shed some light on issues that go to the very core of our industry.

Recently, it is "cutting edge" to talk about bed bugs. From researchers to equipment manufacturers to technicians and management, bed bugs are on everyone’s mind. The bed bug is a pest that has entered the limelight and in the media, no pest is more covered than bed bugs. Journalists have the best of all worlds: a cryptic pest that attacks kids and adults alike while traveling secretly and generally coming out at night so as to be unseen. Add in a few measures of perceived governmental inaction in dealing with bed bugs, and there is a media opportunity no matter which angle the reporter wishes to take.

DOG DISCUSSION. Humans have a great ability to inspect and understand biology. We also can supplement our talents with dogs. Dogs have been used for some time to help authorities find drugs, cadavers, bombs and even certain contraband food products. In the past few years, dogs have provided excellent results when they are trained to search for signs of bed bugs. A published study has shown that bed bug detecting dogs are successful in finding live bed bugs and viable eggs at a 98 percent success rate. To be sure, the pool of data is shallow as there were only a few dogs involved; however, the paper was peer reviewed and published, thus, it qualified as a credible report. Additional testing, though unpublished, shows that properly trained dogs are accurate.

While not using a dog does not imply that a company isn’t doing a good job, these four legged tools can supplement our bed bug work. Most of these industry dogs are credible and efficacious. Recently, though, national print and broadcast media have questioned the use of these dogs. This is not so much questioning abilities but rather questioning whether there is any proof that all dogs, whose owners claim them to be bed bug detecting dogs, are really effective. Government entities focus on the humane treatment of the dogs but do not address the consumer protection side of the equation. The National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association (NESDCA) has set voluntary standards. While not all trainers or teams (handlers and dogs) subscribe to these standards, anyone who looks at the standards with unprejudiced eyes will conclude this group has put some serious effort into protecting the industry by making sure canines are credible tools.

My intention is not to endorse NESDCA, but rather to commend those involved who saw a future need. The future is now and as an industry, we have to act.

There are many trainers, owners and handlers who feel strongly that standards must be set for canine insect detection teams as an industry beyond NESDCA’s efforts. Other trainers and teams just as strongly oppose any standards, fearing that standards might infringe on their ability to offer unique services in a competitive market. Few issues in our industry have the sides as polarized as the issue of standards for canine teams. Letting each trainer decide which — if any — standards to use was fine when all trainers of bed bug detecting dogs had unspoken standards of making sure that the dogs were accurate. With the media scrutiny, though, every team must be able to prove their accuracy. The implication by the news stories that certain teams are not qualified puts our industry in a difficult position to defend. We don’t have answers to questions about universal qualifications embraced by all trainers, managers and handlers.

THE FUTURE? We must unite in order to develop some credible proof to the media, and ultimately the consumer, that we have teams that are accurate tools helping our industry perform bed bug work. If we fragment as an industry with various camps bickering internally, we will be run over by media, and later, the consumer, questioning our abilities to use canines. The NPMA Canine Insect Detection Division is examining this issue, which will become part of the NPMA’s efforts on addressing the bed bug issue. Now is the time to step up and support efforts to set some sort of standard as an industry. Media frenzies will not wait if we delay action.

It is time for all involved with canine detection to work together so that our industry takes the lead rather than being force fed by people outside of the industry who wish to condemn or regulate. We can do it; we have before and today’s industry is better suited than ever as the experts.

Let’s not let this opportunity pass us by.

Greg Baumann is a technical services director with Orkin (www.orkin.com) and has more than 30 years of varied pest management experience. Find more on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OrkinPestControl or join the conversation at www.twitter.com/AskTheOrkinMan.