JENISON, Mich. (March 24, 2014) – It’s a dirty job that appears to have been neglected during a long, cold winter. Now, the slow thaw in West Michigan is revealing a major spring clean-up needed in a lot of neighborhoods, backyards and parks.
While some are less willing than others to pick-up after their animals others are seeing an opportunity to grow the family business.
David and Julie Steenwyk have been running K9 Yard Maintenance since 2008.
“You can get two to 300 pounds of dog poop for a spring clean-up,” said Julie. “We’ve been swamped with calls and emails and we’ve been doing what we can as the snow melts. Doing some partial clean-ups and all the way thawed out so we do a full clean-up.”
The pair saw a business that was popular in California and found the West Michigan market was lacking competition for pet clean-up.
Julie said it’s a one time deal for most people, “We’ve been getting a lot of new ones this year. Just a lot of people going out and looking at the yards and find us in the phone book and online.”
David said there is a reason to make sure the yard is kept clean.
“It can attract rats and mice because of the corn-based food that a lot of people feed their dogs,” he said.
The pair admits some of the clean-up calls they get come from wives who say husbands made plans to do the ‘pick-up’ and just never got around to it.
“We have calls because neighbors will complain of the smell next door,” said David.
That is how they know Spring is in the air. Both David and Julie expect business to increase as the temperatures continue to climb.
