Fido’s Helpers Will do the Scooping for You

Here’s the scoop on the pet waste cleanup industry: It’s booming.

Yes, there is a growing cadre of professionals who scoop up and hygienically remove pet poop for dog and cat owners who are too busy or simply disinclined to perform the messy function themselves.

A listing on the Web site of the Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists shows nine such businesses in Arizona, and a Google search reveals more than half a dozen others serving pet owners in the Valley with such colorful names as Doody Round Up, PU Pet Waste Removal and We Do Doggy Do.

All the trends point to continued growth of such businesses, said Matt “Red” Boswell, founder and CEO (“chief excrement officer”) of Dallas-based Pet Butler, who obviously keeps a sense of humor about his line of work.

“Pet ownership is at an all-time high, yards are smaller than ever and home services are exploding,” he said. “Two-income families are at an all-time high, and they just don’t have time to mess with it.”

Boswell’s newest East Valley franchisee, Mesa resident Susan Jerrick, said she actually enjoys cleaning up the doggie messes.

“I was in the (information technology) business for 30 years, and ... I needed something different,” she said.

Being a pooper-scooper allows her to get outside, play with (usually friendly) dogs and meet interesting people, she said.

“Scooping poop is actually a small part of it ... I’m loving life. How strange is that?”

Jerrick, who calls herself an “entre-manure,” also expects to clean up financially. She notes that other Pet Butler franchisees have found it a lucrative business. And being part of a corporation rather than doing the business on her own gives her benefits in marketing support and training, she said.

Jerrick is careful to clean her shovel in a liquid disinfectant after each job. She also double-wraps the pet droppings in two plastic layers before disposing of it in public landfills.
She charges $11 per week per dog for once-a-week cleanup.

Julie Rogers, a resident of east Mesa who is using Jerrick’s service, said she wanted to relieve her husband of the distasteful duty of cleaning up after their two beagles.

“He didn’t enjoy it, and he didn’t do it to my expectations,” she confided.

“I have changed plenty of dirty diapers, and I don’t want to have to do it myself ... So I went out on my own to get a poopy patrol.”

So far, it’s been well worth the cost, she said.

“It’s nice to go out barefoot and not worry about it,” she said.