The Lives and Careers of Peruyero, Tomeu Come Full Circle

ALACHUA, Fla. — Jose “Pepe” Tomeu’s journey to owning Alachua Pest Control, Alachua, Fla., has never been a straight path. He’s faced imprisonment, gaining U.S. citizenship and starting a pest control company from the ground up.

But his 33-year pest control career has been full of successes and “firsts” in the industry.

TOMEU’S BEGINNING

Tomeu, born and raised in Cuba, was 17 years old when he and his father joined to fight in the Bay of Pigs invasion April 17, 1961. They were subsequently captured and put in prison in communist Cuba for 22 months. 

Tomeu said he spent his days starving on the prison floor and nights sleeping on a cardboard “mattress.” This is also where he met Juan Jose Peruyero. The two formed a friendship that neither would know the amplitude of until later in life.

He and the rest of the Brigade were rescued by the U.S. He then joined the U.S. military in gratitude for being rescued.

After serving, he became an American citizen and married his wife, Fern, and settled near Delray Beach, Fla., where he became a firefighter for Delray Beach Fire Department.

In between shifts at the fire station, Tomeu started working part time for Ringdahl Pest Control in 1968, which is where he learned the ropes of working in the pest control industry.

In 1974, Tomeu moved to Alachua, Fla. and joined the City of Gainesville Fire Department. Soon after, he opened Alachua Pest Control servicing household pest control, rodents, termite control and lawn service.

Tomeu said the industry has changed drastically over the years, and having decades of experience isn’t necessarily helpful in an ever-changing industry.

© Pepe Tomeu

At times, he still feels like a rookie, he added.

“When somebody tells you they have 50 years of experience in pest control, that means nothing, because I can’t believe how much the industry has changed in the last 10 years,” he said. “So many pesticides cannot be used today; it’s just a different time.”

Tomeu said he’s always put his customers and quality of service over charging high prices. In 2007, he sold his business to McCall Service, which is now under the Rollins Family of Brands.  

He was ready to retire. Or so he thought.

STRANGERS TURNED TO FAMILY

One day, Tomeu was reading a story on the front page of the Gainesville Sun Newspaper on Pepe Peruyero, CEO of J&K Canine Academy, also known as Pepedogs, Alachua, Fla. The article was about Peruyero who was then a canine specialist with the City of Gainesville Police Department, and his police dog.

Tomeu remembered the last name and knew Peruyero was related to his fellow prisoner of war (POW). The two met for lunch and Tomeu confirmed his suspicions: his POW and friend was Peruyero’s uncle, Juan Jose Peruyero.

The two met as strangers and left feeling like family reunited. 

“We’d never [met] each other, but it was like we were longtime family,” Peruyero said. “I believe there are no coincidences in life, so it’s all kind of interesting.”

© Pepe Tomeu

Once Tomeu learned about Peruyero’s dog training background, he started wondering what it would take to train and certify dogs to detect termites.

Peruyero and Tomeu began further researching the use of dogs in pest control and making connections with those in the industry and academia.

“The industry got kind of sour on dog [detection] because a lot of trainers have sold dogs that [weren’t effective] and there was not a lot of testing on them [in the 1990s],” Peruyero said. “We trained the dog, it did really well and we met Dr. Phil Koehler and Faith Oi at the University of Florida, and Sean Brooks, who was a retired Navy SEAL working on his master’s on detecting dogs in entomology at UF.”

Through two and half years of research and studies done on termite dog-detection, Peruyero said in 1998, the group proved that the dogs could differentiate live and dead termites, and the dogs were 98 to 99 percent accurate with a false indication rate of three to four percent.

“It was really life altering for the industry, because for the first time ever, there had been research done that proved the efficiency of training dogs for [pest] detection,” Peruyero said. “This is all because of [Jose] Tomeu.”

In 2001, the two attended the National Pest Management Association’s PestWorld conference in New Orleans and presented their findings to pest management professionals (PMPs).

Peruyero said most PMPs were concerned that there was no professional training or certification for dogs to become qualified in termite detection.

Again, Tomeu was determined to fill this industry need.

Tomeu said he and Peruyero both worked together to train and certify the first termite dog in the industry, along with creating the NESDCA, National Entomology Society Detection Canine Association, to professionally certify termite and bed bug dogs.

After the certification was established for industry professionals, Tomeu said termite dog-detection started to spread like wildfire. He even offered it at his company using Peruyero’s dogs.  

“I used Pepe’s dog Gidget for about 10 years until I retired,” he said. “The dogs are a real good source to find termites, bed bugs and rodents. The dogs don’t kill the problem, they just find the problem and then you have a pest control company come in and do the job.”

CLOSING ONE DOOR, OPENING ANOTHER

While Tomeu has officially retired from being a business owner, he’s still dedicating his time to making the pest control industry revolutionary.

After dedicating years to NESDCA, Tomeu started a new chapter and now volunteers his time as a dog evaluator for the Canine Pest Detection Association (CPDA) where he evaluates and tests dogs for certified bed bug and termite detection.

The organization, founded by Peruyero, Jeff Stafford, Liz Kilroy and Kelly Robbins, provides canine teams the support and expertise needed to further their education in scent work, as well as to provide an independent certification of the team’s competency.

Peruyero said this new certification organization has helped the two “go back to the roots of what they wanted originally” with helping PMPs become certified dog handlers.

“About two years ago, things started to change a little bit and [NESDCA] started going in a different direction,” he said. “We decided to start [CPDA] and it's an organization that goes back to what we wanted originally which was something that that tested the dogs but was cost effective for the for the pest control operators.”

CPDA also provides networking opportunities for new people in the industry to connect with longtime experts.

While doing this, Tomeu also helps Peruyero’s son-in-law at his business, Trust Pest Control, Alachua, Fla., and trains employees on proper product use and safety policies.

“I make sure everybody knows how to properly use chemicals, how to sell it and conduct safety meetings every month,” he said.

Tomeu is also an accomplished horseman and championship rodeo rider. He owns a ranch and loves spending his free time taking care of his animals and roping horses.

© Pepe Tomeu

When he sold Alachua Pest Control, he took the sign that reads “Alachua Pest Control… If we can’t trap ‘em, we’ll rope ‘em,” off the company’s building and placed it above his ranch barn. He said the building is now a doctor’s office.

Peruyero said Tomeu has always reminded him of his uncle, who was assassinated when Peruyero was 17 years old.

“Pepe Tomeu is family to me. Anyone who wants to be successful in life needs to spend 20 minutes with this man. He motivates me to be a good person and strive for success,” he said. “It’s the true definition of life coming full circle.”