Norman K9 Sniffs Out Bed Bugs

The resurgence of the pesky bed bug has people looking at new ways to try and prevent them from spreading.

Saturday, June 18th 2011, 10:09 pm

By: News 9


Jon Jordan, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The resurgence of the pesky bed bug has people looking at new ways to try and prevent them from spreading. The newest and maybe most effective is not what you would think. It turns out highly trained canines may be the best hope.

Christen Collymore, part owner of K9 Special Forces, sure thinks so.  She says, "a trained professional is 30 to 40 percent accurate with finding the live bed bugs.  The canines are 96 percent effective according to the last K9 study that was conducted."

Collymore works with her dog Liberty Belle. We followed along as Liberty Belle searched through a home in northwest Oklahoma City where the homeowners complained of bug bites. After 15 minutes of searching, Liberty Belle discovered exactly what the homeowners feared, bed bugs.

Liberty Belle detected the bugs in the far corner of the master bedroom. Why is Liberty Belle's ability so important?  Because locating the tiny blood sucking bugs is nearly impossible.

"A lot of people think they can detect them themselves because of their size, but that's not true.  Usually they are hidden within screw holes, they are hidden within furniture, and they are not going to come out until the lights are dark," says Collymore.

She and her husband have only been in the bed bug business for a few months but they have already turned it into a full-time job.  They say their success is partly due to how effectively bed bugs travel and how quickly they can reproduce.

Collymore says, "One female bed bug in your house is going to produce one to five eggs a day, which will hatch within ten days."

Business for the Norman couple has only grown, they now do inspections for the entire midwest region.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

June 18th, 2011

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024