City weighs plan to protect pets from fumigation: proposal would require 48-hour notification to neighbors.

IN an effort to prevent neighborhood pets from being exposed to deadly fumes, Los Angeles may require pest control companies to notify neighbors 48 hours in advance of a fumigation.

L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks proposed the ordinance last month after receiving complaints from constituents that had lost pets during fumigations of neighbors' homes.

"Citizens have argued that had they been notified prior to the fumigation, they would have made plans to keep their pets indoors and out of harm's way," Parks said his in motion proposing the ordinance.

The motion also notes the potential harm that pest control gases can pose to children. But it makes no mention of an event that happened in the Toluca Lake area 12 years ago in which a resident died after methyl bromide fumes migrated into her home through connecting pipes from an adjacent building.

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The City Attorney's Office has until the end of March to report back to the council on how the ordinance should be implemented.

Under current industry practice, pest control companies typically send out notices to their customers suggesting that they tell their neighbors that pets should be kept indoors.

This proposed ordinance would shift the notification burden onto pest control companies themselves. And that has generated opposition from the pest control companies, which argue the requirement would be costly and at times unworkable.

"In practical terms, besides costing hundreds of dollars per customer, this could turn into a nightmare," said lee Whiunore, vice president of Beneficial Exterminating Co. in Hawthorne and president-elect of the Pest Control Operators of California association. "The first key is figuring out how far down the block you must go to notify

neighbors. And then there's the problem of making sure that the neighbors receive the notices." Brock Dewey, vice president of Pasadena-based Dewey Pest Control pointed out that if there's no proof the residents received the notices, that leaves pest control companies vulnerable in the event a pet dies and a neighbor chooses to sue. He also questioned whether the city had the authority to impose such an ordinance given that primary responsibility for regulating pest control operators lies with the state.