I think just skimming this article made me dumber.

The dog crap collection business goes way back. In Victorian times an army of "pure" gatherers picked up turds and delivered them to tanneries. The stuff was tossed in vats to create a furiously septic stew in which freshly scraped skins were immersed.

It is a shame we don't have an industry today that could use dog crap for something useful.

My dog Kira lays down two good sized dumps a day, which I concientiously pick up and toss -- enclosed in a plastic bag -- in one of the public trash cans along our walking route.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that dog crap and bags accounts for over half of the volume of the trash in these receptacles. The stuff has to be hauled somewhere and dumped. While the bags claim to be biodegradable, I can't imagine the process as being fast or environmentally friendly.

Stefan

Shouldn't this be entrepooneurs?

What about cat litter boxes, hamster cages, etc.?

Where else can you find work cleaning up after other people's dogs? Mind you, these are the same people who drive their SUV's to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail. They want to live in paradise, but they don't want to deal with the effort maintaining that paradise requires. They want dogs, but they don't want to deal with the mess. What's next? A (hopefully discreet) mall kiosk where you drop off your baby to have his or her diaper changed while you sip your latte?

" What's next? A (hopefully discreet) mall kiosk where you drop off your baby to have his or her diaper changed while you sip your latte?"

Don't be surprised if it happens. Specialization of labor is a constant byproduct of progress, and always has been. It's simply more efficient for people to do one job very well then to have everybody doing all sorts of jobs.

Original, interesting, educational, humorous and brave. Good article.

I'm not sure where the venom is coming from regarding the poop-scooping business. How much different is this than hiring someone to mow your lawn, to clean your house occasionally, to give you a massage, to wash your car, or to serve you food in a restaurant? I'm not living on the prairie - I don't have to do everything myself! Paying someone to perform a service is hardly a sign of moral decay. And besides, it allows all of those who provide the service to earn an honest living.

Someone like my mother, for example. She is recently widowed, and has three dogs who produce a lot of poop. I think this would be a great service for her. She's cleaned up enough crap in her life.

gee, and to think of all the time I spent picking up dog shit as a kid because that was

one of my chores (being the youngest). How many of the people using this service do you think

have fat kids playing x-box all day.

Not one word in the article about what is done with the poop? No e.g. fertilizer use? That's a pretty serious lacuna in this article.