By Faye Mayern
An animal lover has launched his own business doing the job that everyone hates to do – picking up dog poop from gardens.
Ben Hughes, 39, has set up a service called “Pidge’s Poop Scoop,” charging customers to visit their gardens and pick up all their dog mess.
The father-of-one bills between $10 to $40 to blitz gardens free of the poop and joked he was inspired by his wife ‘nagging’ him to do their own.
Hughes, from Milton Keynes, Bucks, said while there were irresponsible dog owners, many simply did not have time to clear their gardens of waste.
The practice manager, who owns two dogs called Pidge and Dudley, said: “It is a pretty unusual thing for people to want to willingly do.
“When I first told my family and friends about it, they laughed and didn’t take me seriously.
“But then they thought about it and admitted it’s actually a really good idea.
“The idea came to me at 3am one morning after the missus had been was nagging me to do our garden.
“The more I considered it, the more I realized it could be a success.”
Hughes began the business around eight weeks ago alongside his full-time job and has made his own website, flyers and business cards.
He explained: “Where I live there’s lot of bungalows and older people and we walk our dogs regularly so we take pride in where we live.
“It’s not just people that can’t be bothered. You might have an injury and need a back surgery. You can’t pick it up if you’re pregnant.
“It can get to a point where I can come in and help. We’re living in a world where one person’s income can run a household so time is precious.
Hughes, who has an eight-year-old daughter, said business had initially been ‘slow’ but has now has a list of customers wanting to start in January.
He said: “People don’t want to go out in the wind, rain or dark so I thought there’d be more people to begin with.
“But 90 percent of people who I speak to or approach me then come on board.
“Since lockdown, there are more irresponsible dog owners. As we’ve come out of it, lots of people didn’t have the knowledge or experience to care for them.
“I’ve always said the most innocent beings in the world are children and dogs. Dogs give so much and take so little.
“The first job I had was a young lady whose garden got a bit too much for her. She was dreading cleaning it up.
“She said it was her ‘hallelujah moment’ when I came to clear her garden. She was over the moon.”
Hughes’ business is named after one of his own rescue dogs – Pidge – who he says is a ‘Heinz 57’.
He has invested in a professional long-handled poop scoop, specialist-sealed buckets, gallons of disinfectant and a van.
