It's an increasingly common story: An otherwise healthy person moves into a new home, and strange health issues suddenly kick in--skin rashes, eye irritation, chronic cough, headaches, "brain fog," persistent fatigue. Doctors are baffled and the problems go unsolved. Eventually, the person learns that they've been breathing in spores, released from unseen mold within their home.

By some estimates, nearly half of American houses have mold issues. Once thought to cause only respiratory problems, we now know mold can actually have negative neurological and cognitive effects, can cause immune system issues and is potentially carcinogenic.

Part of the problem is design-related, with homes not being able to properly dry out; moisture can get behind exterior cladding or gather in humid spaces like bathrooms and stay there, providing the ideal conditions for mold to thrive. Another problem is that mold is really difficult to detect. You can't always smell it, and mold colonies tend to form in unseen spaces.

When a house is suspected of having mold, the investigative procedures are destructive and imprecise, requiring the tearing out of drywall in random places until the mold is detected. And the only way to tell if a house is completely mold-free is to tear out all of the drywall.

What would be ideal is if someone invented a mold detector that could see through walls, operating completely non-invasively and with pinpoint precision. As it turns out, such a thing exists.

Zaneta Kuzel, a Florida resident who purchased a new house and was in good health at the time, found herself in the ER just two weeks after moving in. Diagnosed with pneumonia, which laid her up for a month, she subsequently learned her new house had a mold infestation; the full home inspection Kuzel had arranged prior to the purchase did not detect it.

After doing research, Kuzel learned that in Europe they use specially trained dogs to detect mold. The practice isn't common in America—for no good reason Kuzel could see—and so she located a one-year-old black Labrador Retriever that would be ideal to train.

"Black labs are notorious for their keen sense of smell and calm temperament, and that's exactly how we found Indy - full of potential and waiting for his right purpose and home," said Kuzel, who subsequently founded Mold Hunt, LLC. "Indy is energetic and focused about his work, passionate around people and always eager to earn treats for a job well done."

Kuzel contacted specialist trainers and enrolled Indy in a rigorous training course. Now certified, Indy can detect the presence of mold behind walls just by sniffing, no wrecking bar required. During house inspections, if he detects mold, he sits down and taps the exact spot with his nose. (He then gets a treat, of course.) He can cover an entire house in about an hour, and his accuracy rate is "more than 90%."

It's worth noting that Indy is not exposed to mold for extended periods, the way someone living in a mold-infested house is, and thus the job does not provide a significant risk to his health. (Dogs living in a mold-infested house have similar risks to their health as their human companions.)

The business has been a hit, and Indy and Kuzel currently conduct four home inspections a day. "We're planning to expand our detection team with additional trained dogs and handlers to offer service throughout the entire state," Kuzel says, "and eventually create educational workshops to help homeowners truly understand the health risks associated with mold."

Here's Indy doing his thing:

Good dog!