New address

[David Morris]

From:  	MalignD at aol.com
Date:  	Sat Jan 11 12:54:14 2003 
To:  	MalignD at elvis.com
Subject:  	Re: New address

>You pathetic little turd.

Whatever gets you off.

You'll like this:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/03/01/10/news5-Pooperscooper.htm
01/10/03 - Posted 11:32:36 PM from the Daily Record
newsroom 

Dog waste picker-upper watches for 'surprises'

By Rob Seman, Daily Record

RANDOLPH - Kevin Mahoney methodically walked back and
forth across Jennifer Truglio's backyard lawn, scanning
the snow.

Tools in hand, he's on the hunt, but thankfully not
sniffing out his prey.

"There's a lot of good poop here," he said before he
and employee Adam Curtis entered the yard with cautious
steps, careful to not crush any of the little
"surprises" hidden beneath the snow.

He knows how to find droppings in the snow. He keeps
records on his customers' pets, so he knows how much he
should be picking up.

"I've been doing it long enough so I know," Mahoney
said. "It sounds weird but sometimes I sense it."

It's the kind of expertise that comes with picking up
animal excrement for a couple of years, and Mahoney
intends to share some of it with his peers this month.

Mahoney, 33, owner of Happy Tails, will be among about
30 animal waste removal specialists who will convene in
St. Louis next Friday for the first Pow-Wow of Pooper
Scoopers. Mahoney, recently elected to the board of
trustees of the Association of Professional Waste
Specialists, or aPaws, will help represent the
organization at the event.

The event, sponsored by fellow board member Debbie
Levy, owner of Yucko's waste removal service in St.
Louis, will let specialists mingle and browse through
exhibits of the latest poop-scooping products and
tools. A turd-herding contest and other activities also
are scheduled.

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. Most
wouldn't envy Mahoney his career, but he says that's
what makes it so successful.

"I just take a lot of pride in my job. I do a great
job, people love it," Mahoney said. "They respect it
because they don't want to do it. I sell people time.
They get more time to spend with their family."

And despite the stinkier aspects of the job, he
wouldn't have it any other way.

"I was a food and beverage director, and I hated my
job," said Mahoney, who holds degrees in food service
administration and culinary arts from the Rochester
Institute of Technology.

"I needed a change and I didn't want to be around
people and I wanted to be outside in nature."

He went to work for a waste removal business in Kansas
City, where he cleaned up after an average of about 280
dogs, 30 hours a week. He later quit the job, realizing
that he could go into business for himself.

"I'm going to make this happen," he said he thought at
the time. "I knew there was a lot of money to be made,
and I knew I was getting in the ground level."

Mahoney and his wife, whom he met at school in
Rochester, began their business in Randolph.

"My wife, Jennifer, was six months pregnant and we were
going mailbox to mailbox in our old beat-up Volvo
trying to get the word out about this new business,"
said Mahoney.

Today, business is booming, with clients like the
Truglios seeking Mahoney out from miles away.

"It's not about picking up dog poop. It's about being
my own boss," Mahoney said. "It's about not having to
report to anybody."

Mahoney handles an average of about 1,100 pounds of
animal waste per month. He shares a trash bin with a
veterinarian and contracts with another company to
transport the load to a landfill. 

For the Truglios, hiring Mahoney was an easy choice.
Mark Truglio couldn't keep up with the production from
the couple's three dogs while working long hours at CSL
Water Quality in Warren. Jennifer Truglio, now seven
weeks away from giving birth, can't handle it either.
But it still needed to be done.

"There was no one willing to do it. There was no one in
our area," said Truglio. "It's a business that nobody
does."

Levy has heard it before.

"First, they think you're a joke," Levy said. "The next
is, 'Wow, there is a need for this.'"

"Our motto is, what goes in must come out," Levy said.
"And when it comes out, what are you going to do about
it?"

The demand makes industry lucrative, Mahoney and Levy
said. Mahoney's rates start at $9 per visit for one
dog. As in most service industries, reliability is
important.

"He's here every week and he does a great job," said
Jennifer Truglio. "Sometimes it's storming and he's
here in a rain jacket picking up dog poop."

But the profession suffers from lack of exposure -
something Levy and Mahoney both hope aPaws will help
remedy. The organization also will promote the health
benefits of hiring pooper-scoopers.

"I think people respect me for what I do. I don't think
people would want to do what I do," Mahoney said.

"That's why people respect me. I do what people don't
want to do."

Rob Seman can be reached at rseman at gannett.com or (973)
428-6631.

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