MADISON, Wis. – Bell Laboratories announced that its Protecta EVO Express recently passed all requirements necessary for Bell to certify it as a Tier 1 bait station. In order for a station to receive this prestigious distinction it must pass EPA established protocols that demonstrate resistance to both children and dogs, as well as possessing performance features for weather resistance.

The Protecta EVO Express is Child Resistant: EPA protocol 1.229 requires that a station be tested with at least 50 children to ensure they are unable to open the station or reach inside and access the placebo bait. The Protecta EVO Express passed this test with 50 out of 50 children unable to open the station or access the placebo bait.

The Protecta EVO Express is Dog Resistant: Due to the strength of a dog’s jaws, creating a dog resistant station is far more difficult than creating a child resistant station. EPA protocol 1.230 requires that 6 dogs are denied access to the bait for up to 2 hours. Bell felt that this protocol would (and perhaps has) allowed some companies to “game” the test by choosing “passive” dogs, thus achieving a “pass” without ever actually challenging the integrity of the station. Bell worked with EPA to design a more rigorous test. Bell’s EPA approved protocol requires 12 dogs to actively interact with the station within the first 15 minutes of exposure or the dog is disqualified. Even with the more rigorous protocol, the Express passed all 12 dogs without a single failure.