Monday, November 17, 2003

Scooper business serves dog owners
Poop Troop returns sanity and sanitation to yards with dogs
By JAMES RAMAGE/Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY - Brock Buccola is serious about scooping poop.

Aaron J.H. Walker/Staff Photographer "A lot of people just don't want to clean up after them. " -- Mary Dobler, dog owner

Brock Buccola, owner of The Poop Troop dog-cleaning service, inspects the yard of clients Frank and Stephanie Plummer in Hesperia while being followed by their dog, Lala.

Because dog waste ruins a yard, attracts disease-carrying pests, angers neighbors and endangers the health of children and pets, he said, it should be removed periodically.

That's were Buccola and his wife, Darlene, come to the rescue.

Their new company, The Poop Troop, rids Victorville, Apple Valley and Hesperia residents' yards of dog waste once a week.

"My clients really like me when I get there, and love me when I leave because then they get their yards back," Buccola said. "They can go back and play in their yards, drink ice tea there, whatever."

Residents may be lulled into a false sense of security by having a large yard, he said, but even two dogs can lay waste to much of it in a relatively short time. Unlike horse or cow waste, he said, dog waste is protein-based, and so isn't absorbed into the soil.

The Poop Troop employs a large, industrial-strength dustpan for scooping purposes, and surgical gloves and a bucket for hard-to-clean surfaces, he said.

All tools and shoes are disinfected after each use, and former poop sites are hosed down so that even sticky remains are washed away.

Buccola, a finance director at a Los Angeles law firm, moved with his wife to Apple Valley a year ago from Santa Clarita, he said. They started the company in September, after deciding through months of research that there was enough business for it.

The business is holding its own financially, he said. They needed a minimal amount of start-up capital to cover a business license, advertising, tools and various supplies.

The Poop Troop offers its services on weekends, but hope to expand into the weekdays as business grows, Buccola said.

They have promotional fliers at a few local veterinary clinics and animal shelters, Buccola said.

He's also working on a promotional deal with pet-supply giant Petco.

Several animal clinics asked about similar services said they hadn't heard of one in the area.

"It's a valuable service," said Apple Valley's Mary Dobler, a client and owner of two Labrador retrievers. "It's the same as someone having their yard (maintained).

"Dogs do what they do. A lot of people just don't want to clean up after them."

INFORMATION

For more information about The Poop Troop, visit the company's Web site at http://www.pooptroop.com or call 946-5290.

James Ramage can be reached at james_ramage@link.freedom.com or 951-6242.