Sniffer dogs deployed in UK hotels, homes as infestations rise

Dhaka: Hotels and homeowners in the United Kingdom are deploying specially trained dogs to sniff out bedbugs lurking in cracks and crevices of the rooms as infestations are on the rise.

Amid the rise, specialist UK firms are deploying trained sniffer dogs to detect infestations everywhere from private homes to five-star hotels.

Reports cited such farms are currently receiving 25 per cent increase in callouts since June, 2023, adding that, these dogs are very efficient as there is very little that can get past these well-trained dogs’ noses.

It can take a year to 18 months to train a new dog to sniff out bedbugs, reports added. The process mirrors the approach used in training dogs to smell drugs, explosives and stashes of money. In the case of bedbugs, the dogs detect a pheromone the insects emit to help them group together, they added.

It can take hours to find these insects armed with only a torch and good eyesight. However, trained dogs can find them, or rule them out, within minutes, further mentioned reports.

The most common sign of bedbugs are bites which, in people who react to them, can swell and become itchy. Though physically harmless, an infestation can be traumatic as the mental health implications can be devastating, also claimed reports.

Reports also informed cases will return to pre-pandemic levels within a couple of years, however, another wave of worried callouts may be incoming.