Condo Media - August 2009 - 31

unit owners’ schedules. “The [company is] also willing to go out to the board, to work with them and educate them or just gather information,” he says. “I just can’t say enough about them.” “Condominiums are my favorite accounts,” Galvin says. “You just can’t give first-class service without the proper preparation. When you’re dealing with an owner-occupied property, you know the owner wants the problem solved as much as you do, so you know they’ll do the proper prep work.” Another difficulty is that the dog has to be trained every day — even on days off. “The only way the dog eats is to find bugs,” Galvin says. “You have to put bugs in a vial, and she has to find the vial before you feed her.” With two dogs already in his own household, Galvin was unable to take on a bedbug-sniffing dog. Fortunately, his In general, Yankee Pest Control services Massachusetts customers east of Worcester and north of Plymouth. Thanks to Miss Laylah’s success in locating bedbugs and Yankee Pest Control’s expertise in eradicating them, the company’s bedbug business has expanded to encompass a territory that stretches from Maine to Miss Laylah, the Bedbug-Sniffing Dog Real estate transactions make up a good proportion of the pest-control business, so Galvin’s industry, too, has been affected by the recent economic downturn. In fact, according to Galvin, the only area of growth in pest control lately has been in the fight against bedbugs. Virtually eradicated through the use of pesticides after World War II, bedbugs have once again become a problem in this country—and they are a particularly difficult bug to eradicate. One reason is that, once hidden in a mattress or headboard, they are extremely difficult to locate, and naturally they can’t be eliminated if they can’t be found. That’s where Miss Laylah comes in. An early convert to the concept, Galvin had experimented with the use of a bedbug-sniffing dog with mixed results, when he did his research and discovered that the dog had not been trained to the standards of the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association. That’s when he obtained Miss Laylah, one of only two dogs in the state to have been certified by the association. “Of course, a dog isn’t a tool like a flashlight or a drill or a hammer. You have to have an employee who’s dedicated to the dog, who will take the dog home at night and feed her and take her for a walk on Christmas morning,” he points out. One of only two certified bedbug-sniffing dogs in Massachusetts, Miss Laylah is crucial to Yankee Pest Control’s handling of the pesky pests. Also shown (left to right): Galvin J. Murphy, Galvin Murphy Sr. and Christopher Graham. son-in-law and employee, Christopher, was willing to take on the care of the canine. Miss Laylah arrived from a specialized training center in Florida. “Now, not a day goes by that we don’t deal with bedbugs,” Galvin says. To maintain her certification, she must be “proofed” periodically. That process involves hiding bugs throughout the house, to ensure that she “alerts” only on living bedbugs and their eggs. She also must be returned to Florida annually for recertification. Adding to his expertise in the subject, Galvin also was one of only two people from New England to attend an April 2009 summit in Washington, D.C., about the growing bedbug problem. The summit brought industry leaders in from all over the country to meet and discuss the issue, and bring back ideas to the EPA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, and on to Sturbridge, in central Mass. An Eye on Education Still, traditional pest control remains the core of Yankee Pest Control’s business. “I enjoy educating people,” Galvin says. “A lot of what we do is show people what they can do to prevent a pest problem.” For example, things you can do include shutting the door that faces the dumpster or sweeping up crumbs before the pests find them. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he points out. The fact that it’s more cost-effective, too, is just another reason why Yankee Pest Control customers sleep better at night. For more information about how Yankee Pest Control can take care of your pest problems, call (781) 397-9923 or visit www.yankeepestcontrol.com. ADVERTISEMENT 31

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Condo Media - August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - August 2009