DUANE HILTON - North County Staff | Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2005 12:00 am
Dogs have been used to sniff out everything from bombs to drugs.
Now they are being used on the war against mold.
Mold Dogs of Utah provides the services of its dog, Duke, to inspect the interior of buildings in Utah for mold.
Utah's first certified mold dog is a 2-year-old, 8-pound silky terrier. He is smaller than most of the other mold-sniffing dogs around the country, but that doesn't keep him from finding mold. Cathy Flinton, owner of Mold Dogs of Utah said his small size allows him get into places larger dogs can't.
During a demonstration performed at Mold Dogs of Utah's ribbon cutting on April 13, Duke wowed an audience as he pointed out hidden mold with his nose.
But Duke didn't start out to be a mold dog.
He was rescued from an animal shelter.
"He was on his was to doggy death row," Cathy Flinton said.
After life at the shelter, Duke completed several months of training and graduated from the Florida Canine Academy, which also trains dogs to find bombs, drugs and other things.
Duke might have never made it to Utah if Arthur Flinton, owner of Mold Dogs of Utah, had not seen the effects of mold for himself.
While working as an insurance adjuster, Arthur saw the effects mold had on buildings, which convinced him there was a need for Mold Dogs of Utah, said Darren Jones, director of marketing for Mold Dogs of Utah.
When he found out the most successful mold-sniffing dogs to come out of the Florida Canine Academy were in Las Vegas, an area drier than Utah, Arthur Flinton said he thought a mold-sniffing dog would be do well here.
But not everyone in Utah has seen the need for Duke yet.
"At first, I thought the biggest challenge in the business was just getting out the word," Arthur said. "Actually I'm beginning to realize that the biggest challenge in our business is for people to realize that mold is an issue that needs to be taken care of, just like a medical condition."
One of the reasons it is important for property owners to inspect their buildings for mold is to make sure their property value does not decrease, Arthur said.
"All you need is a buyer to come through and think they smell mold, and your real estate transaction is in trouble," be said.
There are also health problems associated with mold.
"Right now they believe mold is the predominate cause of asthma," Arthur said.
Traditional mold detectors were able to tell you if you had mold in your house but not able to specify where it was. If you had mold, contractors had to tear out entire rooms to clean it out, said Arthur.
But Duke is able to go into buildings and put his nose on the wall where the mold is, enabling contractors to do less reconstruction and completing the task in about two-thirds the time of the other methods, Arthur said.
"We don't have to tear out rooms. We tear out areas," he said.
Mold Dogs of Utah
Days: Monday through Saturday
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 1-888-UTAH-DOG
Web site: www.molddogsofutah.com
Location: Home-based business at 497 W. 75 North in Orem
Work force: 2 employees, 1 independent contractor
This story appeared in North County on page A5.