NEW YORK — Michael F. Morin says he has cutting-edge technology in the fight against that growing scourge of city life, bedbugs.
His technology: dogs. Two of them, Ruby and Pasha.

Ruby is a beagle. Pasha is a basenji “and maybe part terrier,” said Donald Frey, Morin’s partner in a four-month-old company that dispatches them to root out the speck-sized parasites in apartments and schools. And also four-star hotels (and three- and two-star ones) that worry about being mentioned in the same breath as “fleabag.”

Alas, a bedbug-free place is not necessarily flea-free. Ruby and Pasha have a nose for Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug, and only Cimex lectularius, Morin said. Fleas are different.

Ruby and Pasha act mild mannered and well behaved, not like fang-baring attack dogs that want to sink their teeth into whatever is close by. When Ruby and Pasha smell a bedbug, they don’t lap it up; they simply sit down.

They savor the moment, hoping for a doggie treat, while Morin and Frey do some bird-dogging of their own. It is up to the two men to figure out where, exactly, the unsavoriness that got the dogs’ attention is coming from — on a pipe near the ceiling, or in a book on a shelf, for example.

“Our dogs have found bedbugs in suitcases in the lobby as people were coming in” in hotels, Frey said. Nosing around in guest rooms, Ruby and Pasha have discovered them in items every hotel room has — Bibles and telephone books.

Ruby and Pasha have padded through apartment houses and schools, too, and have picked up the scent in gym bags and in children’s books.

Officially, Morin and Frey pride themselves on confidentiality, and Ruby and Pasha will never tell where they found the infesters. But Morin let slip that one building where Ruby and Pasha have made the rounds is home to a couple of well-known television personalities and a famous actor. They have also visited what Morin called “a big, big university on the West Side — I think you can put two and two together.”

Ruby and Pasha’s blood lust for bloodsuckers is acquired. They were trained to sniff for bedbugs the way other dogs are trained to sniff for bombs, drugs or missing people. Ruby and Pasha have joined a small contingent of bedbug-sniffing dogs.

The company Morin and Frey started, Bedbug Finders, typically works as a subcontractor to pest-control companies or directly for landlords and homeowners. “Our dogs come in, they say 3 of 10 rooms need treatment, somebody else does the treatment,” Frey said. “We are detection only.”

Apparently, there is more to detect these days. At a City Council hearing on Tuesday, there were indications that infestations are approaching the levels of the 1950s, before the bedbug population was largely wiped out by DDT. Bedbug complaints to the city’s 311 line doubled between 2006 and 2008, to just over 9,200 last year.

Gale A. Brewer, a City Council member who represents the Upper West Side, is pressing for a ban on used and reconditioned mattresses, because old bedding is considered one of the easiest ways for bedbugs to spread. She also wants city agencies to coordinate a strategy for dealing with the problem.

And Ruby and Pasha are nosing around, ready for whatever they ferret out. After all, they get refresher training daily.

“That means we take vials with bedbugs in them, and we place them throughout my house,” said Morin, who lives in Stratford, Conn.

This is different from an Easter egg hunt with plastic eggs, say, or firing blanks at target practice at a pistol range, because there are real bedbugs in the vials.

“My wife doesn’t like it,” he said.

The bedbugs have not escaped from the vials — so far. Morin said Pasha and Ruby had avoided the obvious on-the-job hazard.
They have yet to find bedbugs on each other.

Good news, Fido. Tough break, turkey: Some auto insurance companies have quietly begun offering free coverage to four-legged friends, paying medical bills for pets injured in car crashes.

But just as dogs and cats rule the roost at home, they also top the insurance pecking order. The handful of insurers that offer the coverage with comprehensive collision policies are drawing the line at cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and other animals kept for profit or food — although Farmers Insurance Group will cover ferrets, rodents and reptiles.

The coverage reflects what pet owners have known for years and some corporations are just now realizing: The bonds run deep with fluffy friends. Even if they do soil the carpet now and again.

”People love their pets and regard them as part of the family,” said Lori Conarton, communications director for the Insurance Institute of Michigan, which represents 38 companies writing 74 percent of auto-insurance policies in Michigan.

”Given that the insurance industry is pretty competitive and market driven, if this coverage is well received, I’m sure other companies will add it as well.”

With little fanfare, AAA-Michigan began offering the coverage — at no charge in March to all customers with comprehensive collision. The coverage pays for medical bills and $500 for replacement animals if they die in crashes.

”This was an opportunity to provide a new coverage that we believe was right for the market. We believe it’s a good benefit for our policy holders and we’re happy to provide it,” said Anthony Ptasznik, vice president for membership and insurance produce management at AAA-Michigan, the state’s second-largest provider of auto insurance.

Insurers say although there are few claims, the new pet policies are a low-cost way to attract customers.

The market is huge: Michiganians keep 2.18 million dogs and 2.47 million cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Pet auto insurance coverage was pioneered nationally by Progressive Corp. in September 2007. The insurer, based in suburban Cleveland, sells policies in all 50 states.

”We know how much our customers love their cats and dogs and many of us have pets, too,” said Miriam Deitcher, director of targeted marketing at Progressive. She has a beagle puppy who loves to tag along on car rides.

”This coverage provides a comfort, and we’re really thrilled we led the way in offering it,” said Deitcher, who declined to say how many claims have been made.

Jerry Davies, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Farmers, said the verbal feedback he’s heard has been positive since it began offering the insurance in June.

Dog owner Lynda Broughman says she doesn’t have the coverage, but likes the idea.

She said $500 might not go far given that the medical bill for an animal involved in an automobile accident could easily reach several thousand dollars. And she notes that replacing her English bull dog would cost $1,800 or more.

”It still would be nice to have that coverage, $500 is a lot better than nothing,” said Broughman, who works in the student accounting office at Jackson Public Schools.

Katie Popovich recently accompanied her boyfriend to a Chicago animal shelter in search of a dog. When a beagle-border collie mix immediately nuzzled against them, they were smitten.

But the 22-year-olds received a considerably chillier response from the human behind the counter. “It seemed like we were instantly thrown into this category that we were just kids and not responsible,” she said, adding that they are now talking with breeders.

After years of public education campaigns urging would-be adopters to visit shelters for their cats and dogs, many prospective pet-owners say they feel about as welcome as a case of fleas.

With increasing frequency, they are grumbling about a vetting process that, at times, can seem more like a prosecutorial interrogation than about finding a suitable home for Fido or Felix.

It’s not unusual to find multipage applications that require proof of apartment leases or condo rules permitting pets, financial data, marital status, references from veterinarians and even home visits. Applicants may be asked to weigh in on topics from lawn care (”Do you use chemicals?”) to discipline (”If the dog has an accident, what kind of action will you take?”).

Plenty of pets — 3 million to 4 million, according to the Humane Society of the U.S. — are adopted from shelters annually. But an equal number are euthanized each year, a figure some animal advocates say could be reduced if the process of matching homes and pets were a bit more people-friendly.

“It’s hard to get it right,” conceded Jamie Damato, who has put in 20 years of working with animals, including a stint at an Oak Park, Ill., shelter. “There’s no question that these organizations have the best interests of the animals at heart, but they shouldn’t be playing God.”

Many operators say the scrutiny is essential to ensure that the pet is safe and won’t be returned.

“You have no idea how traumatic abandonment is for animals,” said Jim Borgelt, president of the Chicago Animal Shelter Alliance, a coalition of 15 “no-kill” shelters. “Of course, we want animals to find homes, but we don’t want to do it without any regard for the end result.”

Alliance members adopt between 14,000 and 15,000 dogs and cats annually. Of those, 3 percent to 6 percent — or roughly 750 — are returned.

More rigorous questioning started in the 1990s, after research on why adoptions fail. While the probes can seem overly intrusive, the responses reveal a lot, gatekeepers say. Income, for example, can determine whether an applicant can afford to hire a dog walker. Long work hours might mean steering someone away from a puppy or high-energy breed.

“Some people have an attitude, ’Who are you to tell me what kind of dog I can adopt?’ We are the people who decide where the dog goes, and if we don’t think you’re going to be a proper owner, that’s it. Because two months down the road, we know that dog is coming back,” said Borgelt.

Still, some say the pendulum has swung too far, that overzealous volunteers can get caught up in the quest for perfect credentials, confusing a thorough screening with the third degree. Emily Weiss, who has a doctorate in animal behavior and is a senior director with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was once rejected by a shelter.

“A good adoption counselor should be eHarmony for pets,” said Steve Dale, a syndicated pet columnist and host of WGN Radio’s “Pet Central.” He says he understands the concerns of those who deal with neglected and abused creatures. “But going overboard doesn’t help anyone.”

The rules might be relaxing a bit. The Washington, D.C., Humane Society recently dropped its home visit requirement. In Chicago, The Anti-Cruelty Society reversed its decision to rebuff anyone who said they would de-claw a cat.

“We’re fine-tuning our mission about what it means to be a good pet owner,” said Nadine Walmsley of the LaSalle Street facility, which placed 5,775 animals in 2007, weeding out less than 5 percent of all applicants.

To ensure a good fit, the ASPCA’s Weiss developed an assessment tool called “Meet Your Match” that identifies certain personality traits in both animals and humans. If you work at home, for example, you might not want a “personal assistant”-type cat who will be in your lap and on your keyboard.

At five test sites, the program reduced feline euthanasia by 40 percent and increased adoption by 50 percent, according to Weiss, who added that more than two dozen training sessions are scheduled for shelters nationwide.

Recent initiatives aside, many pet owners say the decision whether to allow an adoption still seems to turn on demographics, such as occupation, marital status, living in an apartment or not having a fenced yard.

The Internet hums with people recounting uncomfortable — even confrontational — experiences.
“Awful,” Brian L. wrote about his recent canine quest on Yelp.com, a Web site where people review local businesses.

For Adam E., the surreal moment came when a volunteer insisted he take a pair of felines — or none at all. She’d “rather see the kitten stay in cat jail,” he wrote.

While plenty of four- and five-star reviews of the same shelters also appear on the site, the words “rude” and “condescending” pop up frequently.

For Popovich, the stumbling block was her youth.

“We got a lecture about how having a dog is a big responsibility,” she said. “I felt like my mom was talking to me.”

Chicago attorney Dan Rubin, 31, said he was denied a few years ago when he was in law school. The reason? Anemic income.

When the counselor peppered him with questions — including what he would do if the dog broke its leg — he responded that he would get the appropriate veterinary care. The volunteer told him that he didn’t earn enough to make that possible.

“I was stunned,” said Rubin, who grew up with a Labrador. “It just seemed very arbitrary.”

He ended up at another shelter — and with Summer, a shepherd-husky mix.

Another lawyer was rejected because he spent too many hours climbing the career ladder. The verdict: He didn’t have enough time to form a bond. So on the next application he just lied.

Brooke Gennaro believes she got the hook for loving animals too much. She has two dogs and wanted to adopt a cat. Her veterinarian endorsed the arrangement, but a Hinsdale, Ill., shelter turned her down flat.

“I even offered to bring my dogs in for an interview . . . but their minds were made up,” said the Chicago-area woman. “I wanted to do the right thing … but it just wasn’t an option.”

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

With tails awag and faces painted, pets and supporters of The Little Rock Animal Village marked its first anniversary Saturday as rescuers teamed up with the shelter’s vet to save one dog’s life.

A call came in about 12:30 p.m. to Cindy Paxton, volunteer for the birthday celebration and for Out of the Woods Rescue and Referral, that a very pregnant beagle was roaming the highway in an unincorporated area of Pulaski County.

Having little faith the county would care for the dog or even pick it up, Paxton asked another volunteer to bring the dog to the Animal Village.

Little Rock Animal Services manager Tracy Roark agreed to have the city’s vet examine the beagle.

“We’re a team effort here,” he said.

The vet found that the puppies the beagle, now named Annie, was carrying were too large for her to deliver. Going into labor would have meant certain death, Paxton said. So the vet operated to remove the puppies and spay Annie.

“She’s recovering well,” Paxton said. “She’s so sweet. We were so grateful that we were able to intervene in her unfortunate situation.”

Paxton is fostering Annie, who will be put up for adoption as soon as she recovers.

Meanwhile, dozens of people showed up to look at the shelter’s animals, have cake, get a snowcone or hot dog, and watch search-dog demonstrations.

Kids gathered around the giant inflatable slide and Scooby Doo, while adults browsed information booths set up by animal-welfare groups like F.U.R.R., Last Chance Arkansas and the Arkansas Search Dog Association.

“It is wonderful,” Roark said. “Having this facility has improved many dogs’ lives because people are starting to get famililar with us. They walk in and are in awe at what the city has done.

“It’s making people feel better about city facilities and making people understand that we are here for the dogs,” he said.

Roark said 1200 invitations were sent out. “There have been tons of people here and still more coming,” he said at noon.

Adoptions have been on the rise all week leading up to the celebration.

Roark said 13 animals were adopted Saturday and estimated five or six adoptions every other day last week. “On a good day, we’ll see two adopted.”

Roark said he plans to hold a celebration every year “to show off what I believe is the lighthouse as far as animal control in the city.

“Hopefully it’ll inspire more animal control facilities to be built the way this one is,” he said.

Roark said many people are afraid to come in when they find out the shelter euthanizes some animals, but they shouldn’t be.

“They should come in here and see the good we’re doing. “We’re so proud of this representing the city of Little Rock,” Roark said, with his adopted dog Amber by his side.

“I know how generous the citizens are and now they have something they can be proud of.”

The shelter is starting a training program Monday night and working on plans to expand the facility.