Poop Scoop Companies’ Profits Pile Up

You know how it is… you’re walking the pooch in the middle of a howling blizzard and, well, who’s going to see if just this once you don’t pick it up?

Turns out, lots of people come spring. The city of Chicago had 10,000 feces-related complaints posted to its 311 site in the last month as the temperatures rose, according to the website DNAInfo.com.

Tom and Ashlee Nestor have been keeping Westchester homes and yards clean of poop since 1999.

Nestor said their company, Doggie Doo Not, based in Stamford, CT., is currently doing 1,500 visits a month. “It has been pretty crazy the last two days, and it will probably get more crazy as the week goes on,” he said. “In the winter, no one want to go outside, so they just let the dog out. Spring comes, and well…” We know, Tom.

Doogie Doo Not does one-time spring cleanings and its weekly service starts at $12 a visit and goes up, depending on the size of the yard and the number of pets.

Besides being just plain ugly, there are health reasons for picking up after your pooch, in all weather. Dr. Tina Wismer, the medical director of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center, said the leftover fecal matter gets more dangerous the longer it hangs around.

“It is going to be a haven for bacteria and when dogs, or people — especially children — come in contact with it, they can easily get an infection,” says Dr. Wismer. “The thing we really have to be concerned about are intestinal parasites.”

Wismer points out the longer the waste sits there, the more bacteria proliferate and once those parasite eggs get into your grass, you, your kids and your dog are tracking it through the house every time you step outdoors. “There is hardly any way to get rid of it,” Wismer says. “I had someone tell me the only way to get rid of roundworm in your lawn is with a flamethrower!”

Read the original article, Poop Scoop Companies’ Profits Pile Up, here lohud.com

written by Karen Croke, [email protected]

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