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What does The Pet Butler, LLC. do?
The Pet Butler, LLC. is a full service pet company. We WALK * SIT & POOP-SCOOP [cleans up dog waste from customers' yards, dog pens, etc.], and removes it from the premises—we bring our own trash bags, and take them away with us when we leave.
The Pet Butler, LLC. also offers a cat litter box program, so cat owners have someone else to do their dirty work.
Do I need to unlock my gate on the day that The Pet Butler, LLC. expected?
Yes. The Pet Butler, LLC. workers are not permitted to climb or jump over fences. If your gate must be locked, we strongly recommend that you use a combination lock. The Pet Butler, LLC. will be happy to lend you one.
How often does your staff come out to service my yard?
Most people with 1 to 2 dogs prefer service once a week. Sometimes we suggest more frequent service if there are more than 2 dogs or a small yard - either way it's up to your best friend. In some neighborhoods we offer twice-a-week service. The Center for Disease Control recommends dog waste be cleaned up weekly.
Is there an extra charge for first time service?
For yards that have not been cleaned on a regular (weekly) basis, we recommend a verbal or on-site estimate to determine the cost of the initial clean-up. For those who stop cleaning your toilet during the winter months, you'll need to ask for the "spring clean-up". Please call us for more information and rates.
Can my dog stay in the yard while your working?
In most cases, yes. We get along with most of you, however there are some cases when you don't let us in (just doing your job). We always ask if your socialized and try to meet you whenever possible. If you're not good with strangers then we'll ask your human to keep you inside while we're visiting. We don't want to take unnecessary risks with you or our employees. If you are in the yard, lucky you...our staff loves to take a few extra minutes to play.
How do I pay The Pet Butler, LLC.?
We will mail an invoice at the end of each month, after the work is done. If you prefer another payment schedule, contact us at 608-238-3821. There is a $5.00 late fee for accounts not paid by the 15th day of the month following the service.
For your convenience, through PayPal, The Pet Butler, LLC. accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit cards as well as your personal check or money order. If you would like to charge each month's invoice automatically, please call us at 608-238-3821. Please make checks payable to The Pet Butler, LLC.
Is it possible to get one-time-only service?
Sure! One-time-only or short-term service may be easily arranged most times of the year. Due to high demand in the spring, this service may be temporarily unavailable.
Will The Pet Butler, LLC. clean my yard through the winter?
Yes. Dogs keep making their messes all year long, so The Pet Butler, LLC. continues to clean up and remove dog waste through winter. If you like, you may put service on hold for the cold months, although there may be an extra service charge for the first cleanup the following spring.
What happens when it snows or rains?
The Pet Butler, LLC. works in most weather, but heavy snow or extreme cold can stop us. If there is more than half an inch of snow, we will postpone service for a day or two, until the snow melts away. If snow stays on the ground for more than a few days and no new snow covers it, we will do regular cleanups to prevent excessive accumulation.
If weather prevents us from completing your regular cleaning, you will be billed for 50% of the regular weekly rate (this will cover the cost of cleaning the additional, accumulated waste when weather permits). For example, a monthly bill that includes three cleanings and one snow day will reflect charges of three and one half times the normal weekly rate.
The Pet Butler, LLC. will usually work in the rain. A very heavy rainfall may slow or stop us, but we will most often be able to make up the work later in the same week.
What about holidays?
The Pet Butler, LLC.. does not work the on the following days:
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1) New Years Day |
4) Labor Day |
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2) Memorial Day |
5) Thanksgiving Day |
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3) Independence Day |
6) Christmas Day |
Make-up days for a holiday that falls on a regular The Pet Butler, LLC. service day will be posted in a work schedule in the Customer Newsletter attached to your invoice. Service returns to the regular day the following week.
How much does The Pet Butler, LLC. s service cost?
Cost is dependent upon how many dogs you have and how often we clean, service area size. The base price, for a weekly cleaning, is $8.00 per week for one dog plus $3.00 per week for each additional dog.
Twice-a-week service is available in most areas, at a reduced price per visit. Three times a week service is available in selected areas.
The Pet Butler, LLC. offers a discount for seniors (age 60 and older) and for trained assistance dogs.
What is toxocariasis?
Toxocariasis is a zoonotic (animal to human) infection caused by the parasitic roundworms commonly found in the intestine of dogs (Toxocara canis) and cats (T. cati). In the United States, an estimated 10,000 cases of Toxocara infections occur yearly in humans.
What are the symptoms of toxocariasis?
There are two major forms of toxocariasis:
1) Ocular larva migrans (OLM):
Toxocara infections can cause OLM, an eye disease that can cause blindness. OLM occurs when a microscopic worm enters the eye; it may cause inflammation and formation of a scar on the retina. Each year more than 700 people infected with Toxocara experience permanent partial loss of vision.
2) Visceral larva migrans (VLM):
Heavier, or repeated Toxocara infections, while rare, can cause VLM, a disease that causes swelling of the body’s organs or central nervous system. Symptoms of VLM, which are caused by the movement of the worms through the body, include fever, coughing, asthma, or pneumonia.
How serious is infection with Toxocara?
In most cases, Toxocara infections are not serious, and many people, especially adults infected by a small number of larvae (immature worms), may not notice any symptoms. The most severe cases are rare, but are more likely to occur in young children, who often play in dirt, or eat dirt (pica) contaminated by dog or cat stool.
How is toxocariasis spread?
The most common Toxocara parasite of concern to humans is T. canis, which puppies usually contract from the mother before birth or from her milk. The larvae mature rapidly in the puppy’s intestines; when the pup is 3 or 4 weeks old, they begin to produce large numbers of eggs that contaminate the environment through the animal’s stool. The eggs soon develop into infective larvae.
How can I get toxocariasis?
You or your children can become infected after accidentally ingesting (swallowing) infective Toxocara eggs from larvae in soil or other contaminated surfaces.
What should I do if I think I have toxocariasis?
See your health care provider to discuss the possibility of infection and, if necessary, to be examined. A blood test is available for diagnosis.
What is the treatment for toxocariasis?
VLM is treated with antiparasitic drugs, usually in combination with anti-inflammatory medications. Treatment of OLM is more difficult and usually consists of measures to prevent progressive damage to the eye.
Who is at risk for toxocariasis?
Young children; owners of dogs and cats.
How can you prevent toxocariasis?
- Have your veterinarian treat your dogs and cats, especially young animals, regularly for worms.
- Wash your hands well with soap and water after playing with your pets and after outdoor activities, especially before you eat. Teach children to always wash their hands after playing with dogs and cats and after playing outdoors.
- Do not allow children to play in areas that are soiled with pet or other animal stool.
- Clean your pet’s living area at least once a week. Feces should be either buried or bagged and disposed of in the trash.
- Teach children that it is dangerous to eat dirt or soil.
Disclaimer
*This information prepared in association with the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists (AAVP).
This fact sheet is for information only and is not meant to be used for self-diagnosis or as a substitute for consultation with a health care provider. If you have any questions about the disease described above or think that you may have a parasitic infection, consult a health care provider.
Life cycle of Poop click link.
Dog_Pooh_Lifecycle
Dog waste poses threat to water ?
| Dog waste poses threat to water
By Traci Watson, USA TODAY 6/6/2002 - Updated 09:07 PM ET
For as long as the dog has been man's best friend, dog waste has posed a menace to man's nose and foot. Now science has revealed a more unsavory truth: It's an environmental pollutant.
In the mid-1990s, scientists perfected methods for tracking the origin of nasty bacteria in streams and seawater. From Clearwater, Fla., to Arlington, Va., to Boise the trail has led straight to the hunched-up dog — and to owners who don't pick up after their pets.
At some beaches, dogs help raise bacteria levels so high that visitors must stay out of the water. Goaded by such studies, some cities have directed as much as $10,000 in the last few years to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets. A few municipalities have started issuing citations to those who ignore pet clean-up ordinances.
Many dog lovers are in denial about their pooches' leavings. But researchers have named the idea that areas used by dogs pump more bacteria into waterways — the "Fido hypothesis."
Dogs are only one of many fixtures of suburban America that add to water pollution. Lawn fertilizers, rinse water from driveways and motor oil commonly end up in streams and lakes.
But unlike those sources, dogs generate disease-causing bacteria that can make people sick. Studies done in the last few years put dogs third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters. "Dogs are one of our usual suspects," says Valerie Harwood, a microbiologist at the University of South Florida. "At certain sites, we find their effect to be significant."
It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out that dog do is nasty. But it took science to determine how nasty it is.
From mutt to blue-blooded champion, all dogs harbor so-called coliform bacteria, which live in the gut. The group includes E. coli, a bacterium that can cause disease, and fecal coliform bacteria, which spread through feces. Dogs also carry salmonella and giardia. Environmental officials use measurements of some of these bacteria as barometers of how much fecal matter has contaminated a body of water.
This wouldn't matter if pet dogs were as rare as pet chinchillas. But four in 10 U.S. households include at least one dog, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The association's statistics also show that Americans owned 54.6 million dogs in 1996 and 68 million dogs in 2000. Of that total, 45% were "large" dogs — 40 pounds or more.
Those numbers add up to a lot of kibble. That wouldn't matter if all dog owners also owned a pooper-scooper. But several studies have found that roughly 40% of Americans don't pick up their dogs' feces (women are more likely to do so than men).
New analysis provides answers
The environmental impact of dog waste went unrecognized for decades. Then scientists developed lab techniques to determine the origin of fecal bacteria contaminating water. One method is a variant of DNA fingerprinting. Another method looks at the antibiotic resistance of microbes from different species.
Scientists caution that the methods are still new. They are able to distinguish between major and minor sources of pollution, but they can't say with precision whether dogs contribute 20% or 30% of the pollution in a stream. "There's inherently some error," says Don Stoeckel, a microbiologist for the Ohio district of the U.S. Geological Survey who's studying bacteria-tracking methods. "I think the best (they) can do is give you some evidence of the magnitude of each source."
Nonetheless, Stoeckel says, the analytical tools do provide useful information. Researchers have studied dozens of waterways. Wild birds and humans usually head the roster of who's fouling the water. But in some areas, dogs make significant deposits.
At Morro Bay, Calif., for example, dogs contribute roughly 10% of the E. coli, says Christopher Kitts, a microbiologist at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. "And that can be the difference between a beach closing and a beach not closing," he says.
Places where dogs dirty the water:
- Stevenson Creek in Clearwater, Fla. Residents were worried that a sewage treatment plant contaminated the creek. But when Harwood tested the water, she found that dogs, along with leaky septic tanks and wild animals, were to blame for high bacteria counts. Dog feces probably washed out of yards by the creek, Harwood says.
- Four Mile Run in Arlington and Fairfax counties, Va. Studies show that dogs add to the contamination in this suburban Washington, D.C. stream. Officials calculate that the 12,000 dogs living in Four Mile Run's watershed leave behind more than 5,000 pounds of "solid waste" every day.
- Boise River in Boise. The river suffers from high bacteria levels that make it unsuitable for swimming. Testing of streams and drainpipes flowing into the river showed that in urban areas, dogs were a leading culprit. In some spots, dogs and cats account for even more of the bacteria than human feces — from dysfunctional septic tanks and leaky sewage pipes — do.
Fines don't sway some
Even where dogs aren't the prime offenders, they're one of the few polluters authorities have control over. At many California beaches, for example, seagulls and other birds are most responsible for high bacteria levels. But federal laws protect birds.
That leaves dogs. Officials know that they have a lot of educating to do before people realize their pooch can be a canine sewage pipe. Some people find it humiliating to carry a plastic bag.
A survey by the Center for Watershed Protection in 1999 found that of the 41% of respondents who rarely or never clean up after their dogs, 44% would refuse to do so in the face of fines and neighbors' complaints. Reasons included, "because it eventually goes away," "small dog, small waste," and "just because."
So more cities may follow the lead of Laguna Beach, Calif., a wealthy beach enclave. The city provides pooper-scoopers at the local dog park. But many people "don't take care of their little friends," says Victor Hillstead, the city's parks and buildings manager.
So the city hired Entre-Manure, poop-scooping service based in nearby Dana Point whose motto is "#1 in the #2 Business." Since the city's contract started in January, the service has collected 187 pounds of dog waste from the city. "I'm real proud of that fact," says Craig Stern, founder and chief picker-upper. "That's pollution that'll never reach the ocean."
Back to Scoop page |
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A Moment of Science text.
 cooping that poop is more important than you thought, as Yaël explains to Don in this Moment of Science.
Y: Boy, Don, thanks so much for suggesting this walk. I sure feel refreshed.
D: So does my little Puppikins, don't you, Fido?
[DOG BARKING]
Oh, hang on. Someone has to make a pit stop. Yael, whistle and look the other way, and then we'll make a run for it.
Y: Don, you don't mean that you aren't going to clean up after your dog?
D: Gross, Yael. Why should I? Anyway, poop goes away on its own.
[DOG BARKING]
Y: Actually, Don, dog poop turns out to have a pretty big environmental impact. If you think that two in five households in the U.S. have at least one dog, and that about forty percent of Americans don't clean up after their pooches, well, all that poop really adds up. In fact, what scientists call the Fido hypothesis--
D: Hey, my dog's name is Fido
[DOG BARKING]
Y: They conjecture that a lot of that waste ends up in waterways. Recent studies, in fact, suggest that dogs are in third or fourth place on the list of contributors to bacteria in water. Talk about gross--fecal matter is full of disease-causing bacteria like E. Coli, salmonella, and giardia. Now that bacteria-tracking methods have gotten better, scientists estimate that in some areas, 20 to 30 percent of the bacteria in a stream comes from dogs.
D: Really? That can't be good.
Y: And the thing is that pollution from dogs is relatively easy to control. All you have to do is scoop when they poop.
D: Hmm! Do you happen to have a baggie?
Y: Good boy, Don. |
Home page thepetbutlerllc
Beware of Poop
Dog lovers beware...
Woof-woof waste does not a good fertilizer make. It is actually toxic to your lawn, causing burns and unsightly discoloring.
More importantly, it has been estimated that a single gram of dog feces can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPS) estimates that two or three days worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shellfishing.
Dog feces are one of the most common sources of the following diseases:
- Heartworms
- Whipworms
- Hookworms
- Roundworms
- Tapeworms
- Parvo
- Corona
- Giardiasis
- Salmonellosis
- Cryptosporidiosis
- Campylobacteriosis
Children, puppies, and kittens are most susceptible to pet-borne illnesses because they have weaker immune systems than adults do.
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