Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't let the Bedbugs Bite! --

---- has taken on a whole new level of importance in the New York Tri-State area apparently!

Bed Bug-Sniffing Dogs Pinpoint Pests In Seconds
'K-9 Detectives' Cost Thousands Less Than Exterminators
Kirstin Cole NEW YORK (CBS)

― Bed bug infestations have hit epidemic proportions in the tri-state area, so much that earlier this year New York City health officials created a bed bug "task force" after receiving thousands complaints about the microscopic critters. Now there's a new weapon in the fight against bed bugs, and its barking up a storm where the bed bugs bite. Smaller than a poppy seed, beg bugs nest in just about everything – not just beds – which makes it very hard to get rid of them.

New York resident Cindy Vaccaro thought her house may be infested with bed bugs after finding tiny red bites that itched on her legs – a souvenir, perhaps, froma recent vacation. "We went to, St. Thomas in March. So I started to get a little suspicious," she told CBS 2. Vaccaro is one of thousands whose concerns are growing in the area.

In 2007, New York City logged almost 7,000 bed bug complaints, and experts say they can't keep up with all the calls. Many are doing whatever they can to try and keep their house steer clear of the bugs. "I've heard stories where they actually put plastic all over the whole house and fumigate," Vaccaro said.

Carl Massicott is a professional bed bug fighter who knows the pests are nearly impossible to get rid of. Homeowners, he says, will spend a tens of thousands of dollars to combat them, with no guarantee they'll be gone for good. Massicott has a weapon of a different kind to battle bed bugs. Unlike exterminators, he doesn't use high-tech devices to locate the bugs. Instead, he relies on "Radar," one of the specially-trained bed bug-sniffing dogs called the Advanced K-9 Detectives used to sweep homes, hotel rooms, and apartments. It's Radar's nose, Massicott says, that knows just where to find the nesting bugs. "Radar's found them in telephones, clock radios. We've found them everywhere," he said. "I'm booked for the next month solid."

So where did Radar pinpoint the bugs a the Vaccaro residence? After putting his nose to the test, Radar found four areas where bedbugs who'd hitched a ride to the household were hiding. The bugs were found nesting in an X-Box game system, in their daughter's recent shipment of clothes from college, and in her husband's computer bag that's been on the road. "To find them in a case like this is virtually impossible because they get behind the lining," Massicott said.

And Vaccaro was very thankful for Radar's accuracy. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it," Vaccaro said. Radar sweeps a room in about 20 seconds, versus several hours for his human counterparts. So instead of fumigating her whole home, Vaccaro now just need to treat or toss the four items where the bugs were found. "There is no way a human would have found any of those spots," Vaccaro said.

Radar and his friends are always 100 percent accurate and trained, say their handlers, to work for food and love. A sweep from Radar starts at about $175, but experts say it can save homeowners thousands because of the dog's accuracy.

Charlie Brown would have been plumb proud of that little beagle - wouldn't he!