In rough economic times, Lashelle
and Mark Davis have cut back on treats like date nights,
their
outings to New York City from their Westchester County
home for dinner and a show.
But Mrs. Davis has made it
clear that there is one luxury she will not give up: her
professional pooper scooper.
Excerpt from James Estrin/The
New York Times
Mr. Patterson cleans up after Daisy, Lashelle
and Mark Davis’s
white German shepherd, at their West Harrison home.
His name is John Patterson, and he arrives
twice a week, waste pan and shovel in hand,
to clean up the
mess left on their wraparound lawn by Daisy, their white
German shepherd.
His scooping is particularly appreciated
in warm weather, when lawn use and bad odors rise along with
the temperature.
“It’s the best money we spend every month,” said
Mrs. Davis, 36, who has four children, ages 2 to 9.
“This dog was my husband’s and my older son’s
idea,” she added. “One of the things I said was, ‘I’m
not taking care of the dog.’ ”
Even in a recession, some pet-waste pickup businesses say
they are thriving because of their low cost (typically $12
to $16 per weekly visit), their convenience and their environmental
appeal. The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists,
which was formed in 2002 and has about 150 members, estimates
that the country has 400 to 500 scooping businesses, up from
a handful two decades ago.
In
Port Monmouth, N.J., When Doody Calls (no connection), has
grown 12 percent this year, according to the owner, Mary
Ellen Levy.
Most local pooper-scooper laws deal
with public spaces, not private property. But in suburbs
of New York and elsewhere, mom and pop operators with a
sense of humor (the companies have names like Poop Patrol
and ScooperDude and slogans like “We’re
No. 1 in the No. 2 business”), have found a market:
the super-busy, families with children who play in the yard
and homeowner associations with common greenspace or dog
runs.
To increase their marketability, many of the companies cast
themselves as environmental guardians, emphasizing the dangers
of dog waste, which can carry bacteria and parasites that
cause disease and contaminate waterways.
The latest survey by the American Pet
Products Association estimated that in 2008, Americans
owned 94 million cats and 78 million dogs. There were pets
in 71 million households, or 62 percent of all homes — up from 56 percent in
1988. Enter the scoopers, which Cheresee Rehart, the president
of their professional association, said range from “a
guy completely happy with 20 customers” and an income
of $30,000 a year to multimillion-dollar chains with franchises.
Some customers see the service less
as luxury than necessity. Robin A. Fries, 56, who lives
on Staten Island, said that when her back problems worsened
last year, she thought she might have to get rid of her
three cats: an arthritic 15-year-old female who sometimes
cannot make it to the litter box, a 10-year-old female
who “throws up for a living” and
a young stray male who is always trying to escape.
Then she hired When Doody Calls of Port Monmouth, which
has about 70 clients on Staten Island. Her scooper, Bruce
Levy, comes by twice a week for $130 a month and even takes
out her trash and brings in her mail as a favor.
“I’d give up my cleaning woman before I’d
give up this service,” said Ms. Fries, a retired teacher. “A
lot of cleaning women don’t clean up kitty litter.”
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