Drug users and prostitutes are turning up their noses at the condemned buildings they once frequented in Richland County. Deputies here have begun using a chemical spray that makes the places smell like a skunk has come calling. Skunk Shot, made in New Zealand, contains synthetic skunk oil in a gel-like substance and was originally intended as a cat and dog repellent. It's a stinking solution for a disturbing problem in some neighborhoods. Vagrants' use of the buildings has taken a nose dive, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. "In the 11 places we've used it, it has been very successful," said Lott, who ordered 10 tubes of gel at $14.95 each in January.
Richland County sheriff's Cpl. Danny Brown spends part of his time spreading the stink in buildings that owners say they want to stop trespassers from visiting. Across the street, Donald Martin and his 9-year-old son, Tim Napoleon, watched with curiosity from their front porch as Brown worked inside a building. They usually see a different sight. "They do drugs in the house. I see them go in through the back and come out in 20 or 30 minutes. ... They think nobody really sees them," Martin said.
But Martin will probably be seeing less of the unwelcome neighbors at the house, which has a notice out front saying it is condemned property. Inside, Brown and Master Deputy Ben Bolding step into pure squalor: used condoms on a dingy carpet, a worn-out sofa cushion on the floor and a tattered beer can probably used to smoke crack. "Don't go in the bathroom," Brown told a visitor. "Someone used the tub as a toilet."
Brown ripped open the seal on Skunk Shot tube and held his breath. He squeezed a dab onto a pouch and dropped it down a vent, then smeared the sofa cushion with the goo. Closets and carpets also got the treatment. "It will get so bad, you won't be able to stand to be in here. The heat will make it worse," he said. He did the same on an old mattress in a shed, emptying the tube. It's powerful. "It's probably the worst thing I've ever smelled. It smells exactly like a skunk," Brown said.
A growing number of law enforcement agencies across the country have turned to the product to ward off trespassers, said Duncan MacMorran, chief executive of Connovation, which manufactures and distributes the gel. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department began using it 18 months ago, said Lt. Shaun Mathers. In the Compton area near Los Angeles, abandoned buildings had been a hot spot for people to hang out and drink until they got a whiff of Skunk Shot. "There's nothing cool about sitting around drinking beer when it smells like a skunk," said Mathers, who sells the product to other agencies as a side job.
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