After an Internet search and calls to local pet stores, there appears to be no one operating a pet waste removal service locally.
There may be some out there or they may be an additional service under lawn care. Ideally though, a good waste removal service does just that. They visit your yard once a week, most often. Some come twice a week and for others, they may come only once every two weeks. I can’t imagine there is not a profit to be made by locally offering such a service if it is marketed well.
The device I use at home for the task, I made. It is a length of 1-inch-by-2-inch lumber screwed onto the back edge of a metal letter tray found for a dollar in a close-out bin. The paddle is a length of 3/4-inch dowel with an index card-sized piece of aluminum plate screwed onto it. All of these materials were scrap except for the letter tray, so almost anyone can make their own.
Similar devices are available for sale, as are clamshell-like devices that have two steam shovel-like jaws that articulate around the waste to pick it up. The problem there is once you’ve grasped the waste, you have to put it somewhere, such as in a bin or paper bag that you carry around with you. The letter tray described above fits a good amount in its pan and then one only has to walk the yard once or twice a week to harvest the riches.
Speaking of disposal, city codes allow for pet waste to be placed in municipal waste collection receptacles. It also can be brought inside and flushed down a domestic toilet if one so desires. What is clearer in our local codes is if your dog makes it, you have to pick it up unless it is on your property … period. It is common now to see people with plastic bags on their hands stooping to pick up their pets’ waste. Some still skirt the codes and there is no significant code enforcement anywhere.
There are a few places around town where small amounts of common space in parks or around apartment buildings have become literal dog poop minefields for man or beast. Picking up waste is simple, and everyone can and should pick up after their pets. A pet that steps in the house or car with a poop-packed foot is a bigger mess and harder cleaning task than simply removing the hazard.
And please, don’t make the, “I’m gonna heave,” noise like the task is so utterly distasteful. Grow up.
Only one group of people should get a pass; it’s those who are physically or mentally challenged and need assistance. For them, that pet may be everything in their lives, so the responsibility for pet waste cleaning has to fall to others such as caregivers … or a pet waste removal service!
OK, the price was intentionally held back so you could finish this column and your coffee this morning. Online pricing offered by franchise services operating in Idaho run about $14-15 per visit, once a week. Two visits a week falls to about $12 per visit, or $24 a week, and so on. That is certainly affordable for many.
One can imagine contracted services for apartment complexes and group homes. I’ve suggested the service as an add-on to at least one yard service.
They acted like little kids saying “hell no,” yet, they fire up their mowers, splatter themselves and all pile into the same pickup truck to head to the next client. Go figure?
Powell is the public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, which provides this column as a community service. For questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, email cpowell@vetmed.wsu.edu.
