It’s a stinky sign of the season. The melted snow has laid bare an uncomfortable truth: a lot of dog owners haven’t fulfilled their doo-doo duties.
This year, a group of enterprising students is taking aim at public excrement, stepping in so you don’t step in “it.”
The Quasay family purchased their first family pet last year and quickly discovered not as many pet owners were as diligent about cleanup as they were. After a few squishy steps, a business idea was born.
“By the time spring arrived, there was a treasure mine that revealed itself underneath the snow, so we thought maybe there’s other owners who also have this kind of problem,” explained Gerard Quasay, the 24-year-old brains behind Scoopy Poo. As the name implies, you call, they scoop.
Quasay’s partners are his sister Marianne and brother Christian, aged 15 and 17 respectively. It’s a dirty job, but demand has been strong. Based on a lone Facebook advertisement a few weeks ago, the Toronto-based family has travelled from Milton to Mississauga for gigs. Not bad, for an operation that’s still reliant on the availability of dad’s minivan.
“We initially didn’t think there’d be much demand, but we discovered there’s a lot of reasons why people don’t do this themselves,” Quasay told CTV News Toronto. “A lot of our clients are busy professionals with families. My sister’s in high school. I’m in college. We were finding it hard to find part time jobs. So we thought, ‘Why not create one ourselves?’ Maybe there’s a niche market for us.”
Margo Witz, one of the company’s first customers, said as the mother of a newborn baby, she found her maternal duties impeding her ability to stay on top of her backyard dog droppings. Upon seeing the Quasay’s initial Facebook post, she knew she had to support the scatological startup.
“I grew up in a time when it would snow, and kids would bring their shovels. So to have this entrepreneurial spirit? It’s amazing.”
Time will tell if this becomes a waste disposal dynasty, or just a way for the Quasay family to help pay for a family vacation. But for now, business is booming.
“There’s a lot of mines out there that need to be defused,” joked Quasay.
