LOCKINGTON — Area residents who don’t like cleaning their yards of pet waste now have a new option for taking care of the mess.
Robert J. Preston Jr., of Lockington, has opened Preston’s Animal Waste Service.
“These businesses do well in big cities,” he said recently. “I have lived in Columbus for the past 30 years. I decided I should come home and help (my parents) out and I wanted to do something unique (as a business).”
Preston and a friend who did landscaping in Columbus ran a similar operation there. When he moved back to Shelby County not long ago, he saw that no one here provided those services.
“I wanted to do something that there wasn’t a whole bunch of around and I couldn’t find any (waste removal firms),” he said. The local company will clear yards for customers throughout Shelby and Miami counties and the adjacent sections of Auglaize and Darke counties.
“People for health reasons can’t do it. Older people can’t do it. Some people just don’t want to do it,” Preston said. And some people are just too busy to take the time to pick up poop after their dogs make a run for the yard.
Besides Preston, the animal waste-removal firm has two other part-time employees. Preston guarantees the work.
He bases his fees on the number of visits per week or per month, not on the size of dogs. He does not write contracts, but tries to establish regular schedules with his clients.
“If someone isn’t satisfied, we’ll refund their money,” he said. Fees are $10 per week for weekly cleaning of waste from one dog and $5 for each additional dog; $15 per week for biweekly cleaning and $6 per additional dog; $15 per week for semiweekly cleaning and $4 per additional dog. One-time, thorough cleaning costs $30 per half hour.
For additional fees, Preston will hose off patios, apply disinfectant to kennel floors, and the like.
“Our business is dedicated to making life easier for dog owners by cleaning up and removing dog waste from their yards and dog pens. Our work will provide a very high level of service quality with regard to reliability, thoroughness and courtesy,” Preston said.
Dogs are not the only animals he’s cleaned up after.
“I’ve done rabbit cages. A woman had cerebral palsy and asked us to clean out (her cat’s) litter box, so we did,” Preston said. If someone asked him to clean out a horse stall, “we’d look at it,” he noted.
For information, call 937-418-3022, email [email protected] or visit www.poodoggy.com.
