When the Bed Bugs Bite

Bedbugs have become a serious problem. No laughing matter, they can inflict hundreds of tiny, itchy bites in minutes and many people have allergic reactions to their bites. Enter Heidi the beagle, one of 50 dogs trained nationwide to sniff out and detect bed bugs.

Heidi happens to be located in Philadelphia and is the bed bug sniffing dog of Martin Overline, owner of Aadvark Pest Management located in the Frankford section of the city. She was trained at J & K Canine Academy in High Springs, Florida and is rewarded with food when she sniffs out bed bugs. "That is how she is trained, reinforced and fed," Overline told the Inquirer. "She is fed at no other time."

Overline paid $10,000 for Heidi, a large expense for a small company, its owner acknowledges. But for Overline it is a small price to pay for accuracy. "I can only find bedbugs 30% of the time, and she can do it 90% of the time," Overline admitted.

DDT was used to eradicate bedbugs after World War II but it is not illegal. According to Overline, nothing in their current arsenal works as well. Combined with an overall increase in international travel and bedbugs seem to have made their return with a vengeance. In fact, once Overline finds them, he eradicates them in a homemade device that resembles an oven for bedbugs.

"I take everything the bedbugs may have been in contact with and put them in a box I made from 2-inch thick-hard-insulated foamboard," he explained. "Then I add space heaters and fans to boost the temperature. . . to 113 degrees or higher." At this temperature, the bedbugs die.

All of which is made easier by the presence of Heidi who sniffed them out in the first place.