Throughout the month of April, beginning on April 1st, there is something about national flea awareness month. Dogs will be flown in trained to sniff out the common cat flea, which is typically what is found on both dogs and cats. These are no ordinary dogs. These are robotic dogs, with nanotechnology olfactory chips embedded in their noses. Robodogs, if you will, are the latest rage. Once taken out of their crate, they come fully charged and ready for their flea-seeking adventures.
April 1st, is of course, April Fool's Day. If you receive a flyer or brochure before then, and you would like your house or hotel checked for fleas, contact the National Flea Awareness Association by filling out their form and mailing it. No stamp is included, but it is required for proper delivery. Lucky winners will receive a visit from a skilled robodog operator who will scour their residence or (if hotel owner) a vacant room. All fleas detected are vacuumed into the robodog's collection bag and shipped off to the Analysis Center, at an undisclosed location. "Basically, it's a win-win situation," says the director, who chose not to have his name published. "Whoever win's a visit from the robodog, gets a free flea vacuum; we get several baggies of fleas to place in our flea farm." When asked about the flea farm, the director laughed and said, "It's an amusement park for fleas, complete with little flea-sized merry go rounds and a volleyball court, as well as a high jump contest. We simply want to raise awareness of fleas, and solve two problems: a couple of flea-infested houses or hotel rooms, and bored fleas." Note that pets should be taken to another room while the robodog does its thing. Cats don't like the mechanical whining sound, and dogs often become irritable when the robodog doesn't respond to normal dog greeting cues. In any case, it all starts this April 1st, so stay tuned!
