Attack of the mold dogs

American Thinker ^ | 28 Jun, 2026 | David DeMay

[MtnClimber]

There’s a new trend that will make it even harder to buy or sell a house.

There is a highly lucrative theater production playing out across the American landscape, and if it is allowed to go unchallenged, it threatens to paralyze both private commerce and public health under the guise of safety. It is a shell game driven by an institutional ecosystem of specialists who have learned that the easiest way to manage a narrative, extract compliance, and dodge accountability is to invent an invisible, unprovable enemy.

The most visible front of this theater is currently emerging in the real estate market, where anxious home buyers are increasingly hiring “mold-sniffing dogs” during pre-sale inspections. A handler walks a canine through a pristine, well maintained living room; the dog suddenly sits or paws at a baseboard. The handler turns to the room and confidently announces that they have an “alert.” Of course, the dog is poised to receive a treat.

In that single, performative moment, a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar transaction stalls. The buyer panics, instantly imagining a toxic wasteland hidden behind the drywall. The seller is put on the defensive, forced to prove a negative, and the market freezes. Yet beneath the impressive display of canine biology lies a massive, high-stakes canard that completely ignores scientific reality.

A dog’s nose is undoubtedly a magnificent piece of biological hardware, capable of detecting the volatile organic compounds released by fungi. But a dog is fundamentally a binary instrument — it can signal only a “yes” or a “no.” It cannot communicate the crucial data points that actually matter in microbiology: concentration and variety. Mold is not an exotic invader; it is omnipresent. It exists in the background baseline of every healthy home on the planet. A dog might alert to a microscopic

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: realestate

[mikey_hates_everything]

it’s certainly true that some people are allergic to mold but this whole panic about mold is irrational

Remember that little kerfluffle from 2020-2023? That stupidity is the new normal.

[srmanuel]

This is a real thing in Florida, I was the Administrator of the Estate of one of my Aunts, she lived in a house her and her late husband purchased in 1962 for $11,000.

When she agreed to move to assisted living, I proceeded to sell the house.

Before we could sell the house we had to do a mold inspection.

The State of Florida has some very strict requirements to alleviate mold before a house can be sold.

You have to hire a mold removal expert to do a mold survey to detect where the mold is located, how extensive it was and what type of mold it was.

In my case, the mold removal expert found some extensive mold.

We then had to hire a mold removal company, drywall had to be removed, carpeting had to be removed, then we had to rebuild the walls and flooring in the house.

Finally, we had to rehire the original mold expert to certify the mold was gone and we followed approved guidelines in the removal of the mold.

Once the house was listed for sale, we had to disclose the removal of the mold to any potential buyer.

Total cost to my aunt’s estate, a little over $30,000

[kawhill]

where anxious home buyers are increasingly hiring “mold-sniffing dogs”. I bet my lab Henry would be good at it, but wouldn’t want to get him sick.

[bobbo666]

And, if you get down on your knees and diddle about in the soil you really risk exposure to Hanta virus — which is dropped on the dirt every time a mouse/rat takes a piddle or poo on that soil — which is like nightly.
Hanta virus is endemic to my area. We get a case every year or so.

“NATURE” is not friendly.

[TalBlack]

“…the dog suddenly sits or paws at a baseboard.”

Scam right there. Given the incredible sensitivity of a dogs nose the animal would only have to enter the home and he’d alert right there. Hell in many cases he’d probably alert on the way to the front door from the car.

[Fungi]

With each breath you inhale over 5,000 fungal spores. The five most common fungi in the environment are Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Alternia. All produce mycotoxins except Cladosporium. Of the remaining, the most potent are produced by Aspergillus and Fusarium.

[faucetman]

“Mold” scam, the new Asbestos scam.

[faucetman]

Ithaca, NY

“Homeowner Exemption: Under NYS DOL rules, asbestos abatement requirements (e.g., hiring licensed contractors, full containment, air monitoring) do not apply to owner-occupied single-family homes when the owner performs the work themselves”

So much for it being as deadly as they make it out to be.

I have personally removed tons (not literally) of asbestos pipe insulation. I have rolled in it in crawl spaces. It has a metallic taste. (not that I ate any), but it does get into your mouth while breathing it.

I smoked cigarettes for 30 years.

Still here at 76.

[faucetman]

Household bleach KILLS mold. They always say not to use it, but here in the REAL world, I have successfully used bleach to kill mold every time I had any to kill.

If it grows back, kill it again.

[johnnygeneric]

I’ve been watching these police youtube vids where a drug dog is brought in. The dog’s actions sometimes are so vague, but the policeman is convinced the dog has found something. I don’t believe any of this. I think I would refuse a dog being brought in.

[johnnygeneric]

MtnClimber, I think an ozone machine is the correct way to go. Good thinking!

[for-q-clinton]

I have two I travel with them. They just plug into the wall. Now they aren’t industrial strength if you have a real issue, but they can definitely clean up a room or two at one time.

My wife is Japanese so we travel to Japan and get an apartment for a month or two at a time when we go. But sometimes the previous people really liked fish too much (Japanese apartments have a fish cooking thing built into the stove). So I bring these and let them work while we are gone. Really stopped the smells.

Also use it in my basement occasionally and my bathrooms.

[for-q-clinton]

If you watch the videos you should know they are not allowed to prolong the stop for a suspicion. So just don’t answer questions (stop talking and say you aren’t answering questions). Just ask am I being detained? Am I free to leave (and record it).

Dogs are accurate, but cops are not. They just say the dog signaled...they can do tricks to make the dog appear to signal.